


The Stuff of Dreams

by Sourwolf and Stilinski (Kitsune_Moonstar)



Series: Wedding Stiles [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Wedding Planner, Blackmail, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, M/M, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Single Parent Derek, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-14
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-04 14:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1781923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsune_Moonstar/pseuds/Sourwolf%20and%20Stilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles wasn't exactly planning on becoming a wedding planner, but he falls into the job, and he's good at it. Then he gets hired to plan Kate Argent and Derek Hale's wedding, and the whole game changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is set in an alternate universe where Laura and Derek never returned to Beacon Hills, but Peter became a crazy alpha anyway.

Wedding Stiles had a perfectly ordinary storefront for its office. Walking by, you wouldn't expect it to be anything special, just another office amongst many on the street. Stiles was fine with that. He got most of his business by word of mouth, and that worked just fine. His wedding planning business wasn't so popular that he had to turn away clients on a regular basis, but it was popular enough that he could pick and choose which jobs he took. Being a full time wedding planner wasn't a bad job for a twenty-four year old folklore and mythology major, and Stiles liked the fact that he could tell people that he made magic for a living.

Which in a sense was exactly what he did. Stiles took a couple's hopes, dreams, plans, and budgets and made a day that they would remember for ever. He'd done everything from manage feuding families to helping couples elope to creating replicas of science fiction icons for reception decorations. There was something incredibly satisfying making an event be that special day for two people. Hands down the favorite wedding he'd done so far was for a writer and a homicide detective. That one had been a blast and surprisingly hassle free. At least, that had been his favorite until now.

Currently, Stiles was planning his best friend's wedding, and it is going to be the best wedding ever. He wouldn't be tying the knot anytime soon, hopelessly single as he was, but he could live vicariously through Scott. The wedding for the former high school sweethearts was six months away, but Stiles was excited none the less. So far, everything was going as planned, and there had only been a few hiccups along the way. Scott had been bitten by a werewolf shortly before the two had met, and Allison's family were well known werewolf hunters. Still, Allison's dad had come around to the idea of Scott as his son-in-law after nearly eight years of the two dating (on again off again at times, but still), and Stiles was bound and determined to make it perfect for the couple.

Other than that, business was good. He had a Star Trek themed wedding in next month and a vintage one in nine months, but other than that his schedule was clear. Which was why he didn't panic when a couple with a little girl wandered in to his office.

"Hey, welcome to Wedding Stiles. How can I help you?"

The woman turned to smile at him, and Stiles felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle at the look on her face. She was a bombshell for sure (dark blond hair, blue eyes, and full red lips), but something about her set him on edge.

"You must be Stiles. I've heard so much about you. I knew this was the right place to come." Her smiled widened. "Allison's talked about you so much it feels like I already know you. I'm her Aunt Kate."

That did not actually make Stiles feel better. Allison's aunt was one of the people who had been against Scott and Allison's relationship from the start. In fact, the latest that Stiles had heard, she was still grumbling about it.

"Pleased to meet you."

What Stiles wanted to know was why the hell she was here. He was distracted for a moment by the dark haired little girl peering into a display of various centerpiece ideas. The one she seemed fascinated by was a tiggy branch stuck in a vase and covered in butterfly hairclips. Stiles grinned and plucked one of the hairclips out of the display and handed it to her. She shyly took it and offered him a breathtaking smile.

"What can I do for you?"

Kate preened a little. "We need you to plan our wedding, of course. The engagement was rather sudden, but Derek and I wanted to be married sooner rather than later. So we're getting married August 18th."

Stiles bit back a frown. That was a week before Scott and Allison's wedding. That was a little close for comfort, and quite frankly, it was going to make everything crazy for anyone involved with both weddings.

"I'm sure that you know Allison's wedding is the next week. I don't normally work two weddings that close together," Stiles told her, watching as the little girl solemnly handed Derek the butterfly clip. The man's stoic face transformed with a smile as he carefully pinned back a stray curl with the clip. He'd gone from looking like a broody, surly business man to a besotted father in the space of just a few seconds. "And while six months is long enough to plan a wedding, you are going to be rather rushed and that may make for a more stressful experience. I would recommend pushing the date at least another month out if not more."

Kate just shrugged. "That doesn't matter. Six months is all we want to wait. Derek has the money to make things happen, so don't worry about the budget. Actually, Derek will be your main contact person on all of this since his job gives him far more free time than mine does. Of course, I'll want to approve all of the final plans, but Derek can handle most of it. I'll make sure he knows what I want."

Derek was back to looking like he belonged at a board meeting instead of talking about his wedding. Stiles' couldn't exactly blame him. This had bridezilla written all over it. But Kate was Allison's family. And it wasn't like he could call Ally up right now and check in with her about this. He had dealt with difficult clients before, but none that were somehow a part of his personal life. He bit back a sigh.

"Let me get you a copy of my usual contract for you to fill out and see if you still want me to be your planner," he offered. "I know my style doesn't work for everyone."

He ducked into the back for a moment to grab the contract and take a moment to breath. Stiles had a bad feeling about this, and he knew he really should say no. Hell, Derek didn't even seem that excited about the wedding. Of course, some grooms just didn't get into the whole wedding whirlwind, but if Stiles didn't know better, he would guess that the man had been forced to be there. And he was the one who was supposed to plan the wedding with Stiles' help. Actually, Stiles felt some sympathy for the guy. Given the way that Kate seemed to steamroll over everyone, he couldn't imagine it was pleasant to be engaged to her. The man was engaged to her though, so she must have some redeeming qualities.

Stiles returned and handed over the contract for Kate to read and fill out. He watched as Derek leaned down and listened to the little girl whispering intently in his ear. They were adorable together. Whatever she was telling him, Derek was taking it seriously. Stiles almost started when they came over to them. The girl peered up at him from behind Derek's leg.

"Talia likes your bowtie. She thinks that bowties are cool."

Stiles grinned. "Well, thank you, Miss Talia. I think so too. How old are you?"

Talia held up four fingers with shy smile. Derek placed a gentle hand on the top of her head.

Stiles met Derek's eyes. "Shy?"

"Especially around people she doesn't know now that it's just the two of us," he shrugged. "She gets that from me, not her moms."

Stiles blinked. Derek sighed.

"I was just Uncle Derek until last year. My sister and her wife were in a car accident."

"Hard on you both."

"Yeah."

The conversation stalled there and pretty much died. Just as well really as Kate rejoined them with the paperwork filled out.

"This looks good. As I've said, I'll want final approval on everything, but you and Derek can get to work on the planning immediately. I've got to run, but I'm sure that you two can work out the details."

And with that Kate swept out of the shop. Derek just sighed.

"Talia and I actually do have an appointment today, but we should get started on this as soon as possible."

Stiles shrugged. "Not a problem. What's your schedule like for the rest of the week? I've got a couple of appointments on Friday myself, but other than that I'm pretty flexible. We can even do the weekend if that would be better."

"Midmorning on Saturday?" Derek asked. "Do you mind if Talia is there?"

"Not at all." Stiles smiled at Talia. "Miss Talia is quite welcome to join us."

It wasn't until after they had left that Stiles' looked at the paperwork and realized that he was dealing with Derek Hale. Not only were they from the same small town in California, but Derek Hale was one of the few members of the Hale family that had survived the fire that burned the family home to the ground. It was still one of the worst tragedies to happen in Beacon Hills in living memory. Stiles' father had just been a deputy at the time, but he had also been one of the first people on the scene that night. Stiles frowned as he put Kate and Derek's info in his laptop. He had a bad feeling about this.

Stiles sighed. He could still back out now. But he didn't think he was going to. He was curious for one thing. He wanted to know what Kate was up to. If this was another attempt to sabotage Allison and Scott, Stiles wanted to be able to head it off at the pass. And he had to admit that he was more than a little fascinated by Derek and his daughter. He didn't know what had possessed the man to propose to Kate, but it was rather clear that she was quite happy to foist all of the work of planning the wedding Derek. Plus Stiles had a soft spot for single fathers, given that he'd been raised by one.

Even so, this wedding was probably a mistake to take on, but if he was committed to that mistake, he might as well do it right. So, he got to work on creating the online calendar for the Hale/Argent Wedding as well as a Pinterest board and half a dozen other things he would need. Stiles knew that he should also call Allison and see if she knew what exactly was going on with her aunt (and if she even knew about the wedding that Kate was planning), but he really didn't want to be the one who broke that news to Allison. So instead, Stiles kept himself busy with other things.

By the time that Saturday rolled around, Stiles was ready to get down to business about this wedding. He had to admit that he was a bit curious to see what they had in mind for this wedding. He wasn't sure what Kate's vision for this thing was, but Stiles was pretty sure that it was going to be over the top. When Derek and Talia showed up, he'd made a fresh pot of coffee and procured doughnuts from the great place just down the street. Normally, Stiles would have served bagels or something healthy, but he figured that Talia might like doughnuts. It was probably bad enough that she had to be dragged along this meeting; Stiles might as well make it as pleasant as possible for the little girl.

Derek and Talia arrived right on time. After getting Talia settled with some doughnuts and a coloring book, Stiles and Derek quickly got down to business. It quickly became clear that while there were a few good things about Kate's plans, most of them were going to make life rather difficult. The wedding was going to be in Beacon Hills, as was Scott and Allison's, so at least there wouldn't be the worries about people having to travel cross country within a week to make both weddings. However, it was clear that Kate wanted a giant spectacle of a wedding, and while it wasn't completely impossible in the time that they had to put it together, it also wasn't the sort of thing that Stiles would take on without a year's lead time.

And Derek didn't seem to be any happier about the plans either. He also never suggested any ideas of his own or offered any suggestions on what he might want for the wedding.

"You do know that grooms are allowed input in their own weddings these days?" Stiles finally said.

Derek just shrugged. "I don't really care. I would like to keep the costs down as much as possible because despite what Kate says, I do like to be fiscally responsible."

"I can work with that."

And that was another note to add to the mental file he was keeping on Derek Hale. Stiles was beginning to think that this was going to end up one of those times when he had to meddle. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened. During his time as a wedding planner, Stiles had facilitated two elopements, three runaway brides, four runaway grooms, scuttled one arranged marriage, and helped two couples call off weddings. There had even been one instance where he'd been involved with getting a groom arrested for domestic violence. That sort of thing unfortunately came hand in hand with weddings at times.

As far as he could tell, Derek had no interest in his own wedding, but it was also very clear that he wasn't about to cross Kate either. Derek was almost two different people actually. When he was interacting with Talia, Stiles could see the devoted father who appeared to be someone that Stiles would want to be friends with. However, when he was interacting with Stiles, Derek was terse and gruff. And he was definitely keeping his distance. The man flinched away from just about any attempt to touch him as well, which worried Stiles more than a little.

Stiles didn't understand the relationship dynamic between the bride and groom at all. Of course, he didn't really know either of them very well yet. Though admittedly he was already biased against Kate since she didn't approve of his best friend. Derek was another story. What Stiles knew about Derek was the same thing just about anyone from Beacon Hills knew: Derek and his sister Laura had been the only real survivors when their house had burned down with most of the extended Hale family inside it. Peter Hale, their uncle, had been pulled out the inferno, but had immediately lapsed in to a coma.

That had turned out to be a problem for Scott and Stiles. Six years after the fire, Peter had come out his coma as a psychotic werewolf bent on revenge. Scott had gotten bitten, and the two teenagers had been introduced to the weird world of the supernatural. Which meant it was very possible that Derek Hale was a werewolf as well, and that made him proposing to Kate Argent all the stranger. It was yet another piece of this puzzle that made Stiles uncomfortable about the wedding.

But when Derek and Talia left, Stiles did have enough to get started with. He was going to be doing a lot of calling around in the next few weeks, but he did have some venue ideas. That was the first priority. Once he got that booked, he could start on pulling together the rest of the details. The biggest problem would be finding a venue that could handle the five hundred guests that Kate wanted to invite. Derek hadn't seemed very pleased with the size of guest list, but he hadn't complained either. He had told Stiles that he did not have any family who would be attending. That was yet another red flag.

With the first steps for the account set up, Stiles called it a day. He'd really start getting to work on this wedding Monday morning. For now, he was going to head home and marathon Doctor Who before his weekly skype call to his dad. What he ended up doing was the cleaning the kitchen before the call, but that wasn't too bad either. He settled in front of the computer with a basket of laundry to fold and opened up skype.

"Hey Daddy-o, how's the wonderful world of crime in Beacon Hills?"

His dad laughed. "We had to give Mrs. Greer a speeding ticket again. I think it's gotten to the point where she's pretty much paid for repaving the entire downtown."

The two quickly settled into to the local gossip. While nothing major had happened since they'd last talked, there were always little things that had changed. Plus, Stiles was following the ongoing saga of Deputy Parrish and his disastrous dating record. Stiles was almost finished folding all of his laundry by the time the conversation wound down.

He let out a sigh. "So, have you heard anything from Allison about her aunt lately?"

On the computer screen, his dad frowned. "No. Why do you ask?"

"She came in this week to hire me to plan her wedding. It's going to be a week before Allison and Scott's. And I agreed to do it."

His dad just arched an eyebrow. "And you did this why?"

"I was charmed by her fiancé's kid and felt sorry for her fiancé?" Stiles tried to look innocent. "Speaking of which, her fiancé happens to be Derek Hale. I don't suppose you've heard anything about the Hales since they left Beacon Hills? Derek mentioned that his sister died in a car accident in the past year, but other than that I have no clue."

John shrugged. "All I know is that a couple months ago they finally started doing something about the old house. I know the county had been threatening to take the land, and then the house was being bulldozed, but that's about it. It sort of looks like there are some plans to rebuild, but nothing except the demolition has happened so far."

Stiles sighed again. Another piece of the puzzle that didn't really fit. He wrapped up his conversation with his dad and headed to bed.

Thing was Stiles actually rather liked Derek Hale the more he got to know him. The man did have a well hidden sense of humor, and it was hard not for Stiles to like someone who was so clearly devoted to their child. So far, Talia had come along to everyone of their meetings so far, and Stiles had to admit that she was definitely making a lot of his someday thoughts about a family be a lot more immediate. Currently, Talia was occupied with a stack of picture books though while Derek and Stiles looked at venues.

"Unfortunately, we've got limited options since you want an indoor venue and we're booking late in the game. There are three places that are available that work with your needs though," Stiles told Derek. "I'll be honest, there's not that much difference between them except décor. Price wise, they're all in the same range, and one doesn't offer more services than the others."

Derek made a face. "Great. Well, show me what the options are. Maybe one of them will just jump out at me."

A sharp noise interrupted them, and Derek was out of his seat and across the room in a flash. Stiles caught sight of blood on Talia's hand.

"Do you need a band aid?" he asked, rummaging in his desk. "I think I've got some Batman ones. Papercuts are the worst…"

His voice trailed off as Stiles realized her hand had all ready completely healed. The look on Derek's face was severe, and Stiles had the feeling that there was about to be a very upset werewolf shortly.

"Oh, well, I supposed I should have guessed since you're Hales. I mean, I met your uncle. Not that you're anything like your uncle. Which is fine by me. We didn't exactly get on, but I mean I do know about werewolves and all that jazz, and since my best friend is a werewolf, it's not like you have anything to worry about. Not from me, so-"

"Papa," Talia interrupted him. "is Mr. Stiles breathing? I didn't know you could talk that much that fast."

The corners of Derek's mouth twitched upwards. "I think that he's just nervous, sweetheart."

Talia scoffed. "Don't be nervous. Papa likes you. If he didn't, he'd rip your throat out with his teeth."

Derek's ears were pink, and Stiles couldn't help grinning.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind, Miss Talia."

Some of the tension left Derek, and Stiles let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He settled back in front of the laptop while Derek spoke softly to Talia before returning to his own seat.

"You mentioned you knew my uncle?" Derek asked as they scrolled through another series of photos.

Stiles sighed. "Yeah. It's kind of a long story, and it's not really suitable for little ears. I'm happy to tell you sometimes, but I have to warn you that it's not pretty."

Derek just sighed. "Between his injuries from the fire and the fact that I'm not sure he was ever that stable, I'm not surprised."

After looking over all of the pictures, Derek finally settled on the Grand Beacon Hotel as their venue. Stiles saw him and Talia off before getting to work actually booking the location. With the venue booked, it was time for Stiles to really get to work. Knowing the venue made everything easier. He spent the next few hours putting together pinterest boards of flowers, décor, and stationary together. Given what Kate had wanted, most of it was fairly standard formal wedding fare. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about this wedding, and Stiles had the dawning realization that this wedding was going to be very boring to work on when he removed the drama of the bride and groom.

He was more than a little surprised to get a text message from Derek later in the week. It read:

_Have a free evening. Would you be up for coming over and telling me about Peter?_

Stiles shrugged and texted back an affirmative. They hash out a time, and Derek sends him an address which oddly enough isn't that far from Stiles' apartment. The town house was an older building, and Stiles found himself nervous when he knocked on the door. Then he was just speechless, Derek opened the door barefoot wearing a pair of well worn jean and a dark henley. He looked like he'd stepped out of one of Stiles' fantasies.

"Come in," Derek waved him inside.

It was not what Stiles would have expected. The apartment was actually rather bare if you discounted all of the clutter that comes from having a child underfoot. The walls were completely bare except for once small section of the living room wall which had a cluster of picture frames. Most of them were of Talia at various ages, including one of a stunned looking Derek holding her as a newborn. But there was also a picture of two laughing women, both dressed in white. One bore a striking resemblance to Talia. The other had honey blond curls and bright green eyes.

"Laura and Keri," Derek's voice almost made him jump. "That was at their wedding."

"Are you going to want to incorporate some sort of memorial for them in the wedding?" Stiles asked. "It's pretty common to do something like that at your wedding. We could include your entire family if you'd like. I know it must suck not to have them here for this."

Derek looked more surly than ever. "No. Laura would've killed me if I included her in this."

Stiles just shrugged and let the subject drop. Derek seemed to remember his manners.

"Go on and have a seat. Would you like tea or coffee?"

"Tea would be great."

Stiles settled into an extremely comfortable but incredibly ugly chair. Derek returned a few minutes later with two mugs. He handed one to Stiles and settled on the couch.

"What happened with my uncle?"

Stiles sighed. "Please remember that we were sixteen at the time and that teenagers are idiots. So, I heard that they were searching for a dead body out in the woods, and I dragged my best friend Scott out to see if we could find it ourselves. My dad found us instead, well, just me actually and sent me home but-"

"What does your dad have to do with this?"

Stiles blinked. "He's the sheriff. Sheriff Stilinski? Well, he probably would have been a deputy when you lived in Beacon Hills, so I don't know if you would have known him."

It was Derek's turn to blink. "Yeah, I remember him."

"Anyway, I got sent home, but Scott was still out there and he stumbled across the body and Peter, though we didn't know who he was at the time, and got bitten. Of course, he didn't realize what had happened or that he was a werewolf at first, and when I told him, he didn't believe me until he started shifting and really noticing his new senses." Stiles took a breath. "Anyway, the Argents had just moved to town, and Scott fell in love with Allison who didn't know anything about werewolves at that point. There were a bunch of deaths from "animal attacks" and I happened to notice that everyone who had been killed was linked somehow to the Hale fire. I got Dad to reopen the case. I didn't catch on to the fact that it was Peter until it was too late, but we ended up killing him. Unfortunately, while Dad could prove that the fire was arson, he never could identify the ring leader who was responsible. That's basically what happened since I'm pretty sure you're not interested in all of the teenage angst that also went into the whole mess."

Derek was staring at him. "How are you still alive?"

That just made Stiles laugh. Derek wouldn't be the first person to express the same sentiment. "Sheer luck and practice after the first round. Peter might have been our first foray into the supernatural, but it wasn't the last. On the upside, Beacon Hills has been stable for the last few years."

Shaking his head, Derek sighed. "We never really expected Peter to recover."

Stiles shrugged. "He had to kill an alpha in order to recover completely. Actually, to be honest, knowing what I do now I kind of think he was trying to get the attention of you or Laura, which ever one of you had become the new Hale alpha."

"Laura," Derek sounds a little choked up, and Stiles almost regrets mentioning it. "It would have been Laura. It was when?"

"Eight years ago."

"Laura would have gone to investigate. But Keri had dragged her to Europe to has something out with her extended family, and I tagged along."

Stiles shrugged again. "It's probably for the best."

A slightly awkward silence descended on them. Stiles fidgeted as he cast around for some sort of topic of conversation.

"So are you looking forward to being back in Beacon Hills?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't know. Before the engagement, I'd been planning on rebuilding the house and moving there with Talia, but now I'm not sure."

Stiles just arched an eyebrow at him. "Why not?"

Derek just sighed. "I'm technically the owner of the company Laura and Keri started, and they've been having some trouble lately. Kate was hired just after they died, and she was the one that noticed the financial issues."

He frowned at that. Stiles didn't exactly like the timing. Two werewolves die (he was assuming Keri was a werewolf), and then a hunter shows up working at their company which is suddenly having problems. It seemed a little suspicious. At least to Stiles. He let out a sigh.

"Well, at least now it won't be a surprise to you if you go back and find a werewolf pack in Beacon Hills. Scott's pretty mellow about things, so if you do decide to move back, I doubt you'll have any trouble sharing the territory. Besides, our pack isn't that large. Scott, two betas, one of which lives here in New York, and assorted humans. There are two other betas moving to Beacon Hills, but I don't know if they'll join Scott's pack or not. So that won't be a problem unless your pack is like thirty werewolves."

Derek shook his head. "It's just Talia and I. Laura wasn't interested in expanding her pack. We'd always been a family pack before, so it wasn't a big deal."

"Well, you'll get a warm welcome in Beacon Hills if you decide to go back."

They chatted a little while longer before Stiles headed home. It was probably the most relaxed Stiles had ever seen Derek quite frankly, and Stiles did find him rather fascinating. He hadn't really known all that many born werewolves since discovering the supernatural world, and getting a chance to talk to someone who had grown up in it was exciting. And there was the whole Kate situation which made Stiles both curious and concerned.

Stiles can't prove that Kate Argent was the one who had set fire to the Hale house. But he was pretty certain that it was what had happened. And he really didn't like how she had showed up around the last living Hales. Poking his nose into what was going on there might not be the best idea though, especially since technically Kate Argent was one of his clients. Stiles was pretty sure he was going to do it any way.


	2. Chapter 2

His wake up call the next morning is the one that Stiles had been dreading since Kate Argent walked into his business. Stiles wasn't even thinking when he answered it.

"Stiles, why are you planning my aunt's wedding?"

"Morning, Ally." Stiles sat up in bed. "Because she asked me to?"

"I can't believe she's doing this to me. Is it some sort of revenge? A way of showing her disapproval? I mean, I know she doesn't like Scott and that she's upset that I'm marrying a werewolf, but no one even knew she was dating. But now she's getting married and her wedding is the week before mine and-"

Stiles cut her off as his brain kicked in to gear. "Allison, do you know who your aunt is engaged to?"

"No. She didn't mention his name."

"It's Derek Hale." When that didn't get a response, Stiles added, "As in the Hale family from Beacon Hills. Or the Hale pack. He and his sister were the other survivors besides Peter. They've been in New York, though it's just Derek and his daughter now. He's an alpha werewolf, Allison."

He could hear her suck in air on the other side of the line. "I don't understand.'

"Neither do I."

"Kate hates werewolves. She calls them filthy animals more often then not. The idea of her marrying one is inconceivable. Stiles, what the hell is going on?"

Stiles just sighed. "I don't know. I'm going to try and find out though."

"I'll see what I can find out on my end," Allison sounded both grim and determined. "If this is just some sort of plot to ruin my wedding, she is going to be very sorry."

He was more concerned about if this was plot to kill the remaining Hales. And he couldn't in good conscience continue planning this wedding unless he was sure that Derek knew just what sort of threat Kate Argent represented. Stiles couldn't imagine Derek doing something that would put Talia in danger, but then again, he also really couldn't imagine how the werewolf had ended up engaged to Kate Argent.

Thankfully, they had a meeting scheduled next week in order to do final approval on invitations and start talking about the menu. And that would give Stiles enough time to call in a favor with Danny. So Friday morning, Stiles actually gets up early. He picked up two dozen doughnuts from his favorite doughnut place and headed for the local FBI building. Danny worked for the white collar crimes division, and most of his coworkers knew Stiles from back when he'd planned Danny and Isaac's wedding. So it wasn't hard for Stiles to make his way to Danny's floor. And his team definitely appreciated the doughnuts. Well, Danny's team liked him anyway, if only because he'd brought in treats nearly every week during the wedding planning process.

Danny snagged a maple bar and rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Stiles?"

Stiles grinned back. "What makes you think I want anything?"

"I know you. And you don't normally bring my entire team doughnuts."

"I have a favor to ask." Stiles ran a hand through his hair. "So, my latest client is from Beacon Hills, and he inherited a company when his sister died, and there is something hinky going on with their finances. His fiancée is the one who found the problems. No one noticed them before she was hired apparently. But the thing is there are a couple of unusual circumstances with the relationship that make me wonder if there is something more going on."

Danny gave him a level look. "When you say unusual, are we talking about the sort of thing you, Isaac, and Scott were into in high school."

"Yeah."

Danny sighed. "I'll look into it. What's the company?"

"Rosenhale, and Kate Argent is the one who noticed the issues."

"All right. Now shoo. I have a new team member to train, and I'd prefer Cora not fall under your spell like the rest of my team."

Stiles laughed. "Sure. Let me know what you find."

He heads on in to his office to check messages and get some work done. He had one more week before the Star Trek wedding, and there were half a dozen last minute details to check. Plus, after the first three minor mishaps with Scott and Allison's wedding, Stiles had started to do regular checks with the vendors. He also wanted to check in with Erica and Boyd. The two of them were moving into their new house in Beacon Hills today, and if Stiles couldn't be there to help, he at least wanted to say hi.

"Hey, Catwoman."

Erica laughed. "Stiles, hey. What's up?"

"Just checking in on you guys. How's the move going?"

"The trucks unloaded thanks to your friend Scott and your dad. I think the Sheriff recruited just about every deputy who was off duty to help out."

"Great. So you're settling in all right?"

"Yup. We took a break and checked out Boyd's new shop and my new kitchen. They're both looking good. We should be up and running on all fronts within a month."

"Good for you. I can't wait to see what you've done when I visit in August."

"About that," Erica's voice was almost mischievous, "I hear that there might be another wedding you're planning around then."

Stiles groaned. "Oh, god. Don't tell me the news is all around town?"

"About Kate Argent trying to upstage her niece's wedding? You bet."

"Great. What about her fiancé? Has word spread about who he is yet?"

"No, all of the gossip mostly just centers around Kate and her shenanigans."

"Good."

"Stiles," Erica sounded concerned. "What's going on?"

He sighed. "Derek, the fiancé, seems like a good guy. He's a single parent, and he adores his daughter who is completely adorable. I'm kind of worried about him. We're still trying to figure out why a werewolf would want to marry an Argent who isn't Allison."

Erica sighed softly. "Don't get too attached, Stiles. I know you meddle when you think your clients need it, but I don't want you to get hurt in the process. It sort of sounds like you're sweet on the guy."

"What? No," Stiles protested. "Look, without giving a lot of details, he's had enough shit happen to him already. He deserves a break. And I'm not sure marrying Kate is one."

"Just be careful."

Stiles hung up with a sigh. He knew that Erica had a point. He really had no evidence that something was wrong, just some suspicions and a gut feeling. Stiles didn't really know Derek well enough to say that his behavior was odd, and just because he thought that something was wrong didn't mean that something actually was wrong. It was just Stiles couldn't reconcile the man Derek was with his daughter with the man he was with Kate. And he did have a soft spot for single fathers. If Kate was in anyway hurting him, Stiles wanted to find out and stop her.

And yeah, Derek was extremely attractive. He was definitely the sort of guy that Stiles would be interested in dating. Except, he was engaged, and Stiles wasn't about to get involved romantically unless that relationship ended. He'd seen what the aftermath of cheating on one's partner could do to everyone involved, and Stiles had no desire to get himself embroiled in that sort of emotional turmoil. It was no way to start a relationship. But he could be Derek's friend at least, and that would have to be enough. And if he did happen to get a crush on the man, it wouldn't be the first time that Stiles had pined after some one unattainable.

So Stiles tried to focus on the important things: running his business and finding out just what Kate Argent was up to. Besides, just because he had one client with problems didn't mean that he could ignore the rest of them. So Stiles kept himself busy, and when his appointment with Derek finally rolled around, he hadn't really learned anything more than what he'd known before. He had googled Rosenhale and found out that it was small publishing company, specializing in an esoteric assortment of literature. Stiles actually got the feeling that it was a legit supernatural publishing house.

He wasn't expecting Talia to ambush him with a hug around his knees before she settled down in a corner with a coloring book. Derek looks vaguely amused.

"I think she's decided that you're one of her humans. She's got a couple of those, but not many."

Stiles smiled. "She seems like a sweet kid."

Derek snorted. "I'll you babysit her sometime and see if you have the same opinion."

It didn't take the two of them long to finalize the invitations and the color scheme. Then they moved on to the menu for the reception.

"So, normally I'd suggest a friend of mine to cater and take care of the cake, but Erica's a werewolf, and I don't know that it would be a good idea considering that Kate is an Argent."

Derek blinked at him. "It probably wouldn't. If Kate doesn't know that your friend is a werewolf, you should keep it that way."

Stiles nodded. "All right. That does take some vendors off of the table. Given that this is turning out to be a pretty formal affair, there are two caterers in Beacon Hills that I would recommend. I've got sample menus for them both. The cake is a little trickier though."

A sigh slipped from Derek's lips and he looked slightly pained. "Kate was wanting to know if we could do something with fire at the reception like flaming desserts or something prepared at the table."

It didn't take much intelligence to figure out that Derek didn't like the idea. Given Derek's history, open flames seemed like a bad idea. And Stiles would guess that Kate had deliberately chosen it because of that.

"I don't know anyone who would do that sort of thing. You're better off sticking to an elegant menu."

Derek nodded. "All right. What do the menus look like?"

The two of them immersed themselves in the menus. It quickly became clear to Stiles that Derek was leaning towards Beacon Light Catering. He'd used them for Lydia's wedding, and they had the most varied menu.

"I'll send in for per plate estimates for the teriyaki salmon and the strip steak dinners. Do you want me to find out what their vegetarian options are?"

Derek nodded. "You probably should. Just to be on the safe side. What about the cake? I know that Kate definitely has some ideas about what she wants it to look like."

Stiles sighed. "That's one's trickier. Because neither of you will actually be in Beacon Hills until just before the wedding, it's hard to set up appointments for a tasting. I have actually tasted most of the cakes from the places that do wedding cakes in Beacon Hills, but my tastes and your might not match."

Derek shrugged slightly. "Stick with chocolate, and we should be fine. Even Kate loves chocolate."

"All right. I'll see what I can put together for our next meeting."

"There's one another thing. I also need to find a reliable sitter for Talia for the ceremony. Preferably one who's in the know about werewolves."

Stiles stared at him. "What?"

Derek sighed. "The no children thing extends to Talia too. Kate didn't think it was fair to make an exception for her."

That was extremely cold in Stiles' opinion. He'd never been to a wedding where the child of one of the people getting married wasn't welcome. If it had been his wedding, he would definitely want to incorporate Talia into the ceremony somehow. After all, it wasn't like Talia was going to suddenly disappear once Kate and Derek got married.

"I'll who I can find. I know a couple of people who might be interested, but I want to check with them first."

"It's no rush. We've got plenty of time."

"But I'm sure you'd be more comfortable if both you and Talia could me the sitter before hand," Stiles said. "I'd offer to do it myself, but I have to run the wedding."

Derek arched an eyebrow at him. "You babysit?"

It was Stiles turn to shrug. "On occasion. I like kids. They make more sense than adults sometimes."

He was sad to see the pair go. And unfortunately, all the meeting had really done was give Stiles more reasons to dislike Kate. He hadn't found out much more about the situation at all except that Kate seemed bound and determined to make Derek suffer. And it wasn't like he had a good reason to go nose around Rosenhale to see what he could find. Or at least, he didn't until he got an email from Kate telling him that he could pick up the guest list and addresses at the company, so he could get the invitations in the mail. Stiles sighed. He wasn't looking forward to the hours of preparing envelopes, but at least it would get him in the building. Hopefully, he could pick up the local gossip about Kate and Derek as well while he was there.

Stiles wasn't sure what he was expecting from Rosenhale. Whatever it was, it wasn't what he got. The business was housed in an older brick building which was one of those places that always made Stiles stop and look at all of the little details. It didn't take him long to find the receptionist on the second floor who was supposed to have the guest list information for him.

"Hi, I'm Stiles. I'm supposed pick up the guest list?"

The older woman at the desk gave him a look. "Does the Wicked Witch of the West have any idea what you are?"

"Since I'm the best friend of the guy she doesn't want to marry her niece, probably not." He wasn't entirely startled to realize she knew he was a spark.

The woman smiled. "Good. I'm Ellie Collins. I'll be one the people who send in the not coming reply."

Stiles blinked at her. "What?"

"I see Kate didn't mention that she's invited everyone from the company to the wedding."

Stiles let out a sigh. "Really. How many people is that?"

"About two hundred these days. I doubt most of them will come. Most of us hate the woman. I don't know what Jenny was thinking when she hired her. I know we were in a crunch, but she should have known better than to hire an Argent."

"You've been with Rosenhale a long time?" he asked.

Ellie grinned. "I was Keri and Laura's first hire when they were starting out. Those two girls had a lot of ideas, but they weren't always the most organized."

"Okay, this is going to be a really dumb question, but what exactly does Rosenhale do? I mean, from the website, it looks like a publishing company, but…"

"We are a publishing company. We just have a very specific audience. We've basically got the supernatural self-help market cornered. Keri was the one who realized that because so much of our traditions and training are oral when tragedies like what happened to the Hales occur, the survivors can be left with absolutely no where to turn, and something needed to be done about that."

"I wish I'd known about you all when my best friend got bit by a rogue alpha in high school."

Ellie's eyes narrowed. "You're McCall Pack? You guys did pretty well for yourself for a bunch of kids with no experience."

Stiles just shrugged. There wasn't much he could say to that.

"Anything I should know about planning this wedding?"

Ellie snorted. "Just that it's a damned shame. I don't know what that woman has on Derek to make him to agree to it, but both Laura and Keri would be furious. Those two were just as protective of Derek as they were of their daughter. And Derek hasn't had any luck with romantic relationships. The poor boy is completely out of his depth as it is trying to run the company, but adding in this wedding is just another layer to the mess."

"What does Derek do? Besides run the company that is."

That just made Ellie laugh. "Derek doesn't run the company. Not really. I think he would turn things over to Adele and Marc, they're the one's who actually run things these days, but doesn't feel comfortable doing that while an Argent is on the staff. He's well aware just how dangerous that could be for us. No, Derek's a writer, though not for us for the most part. He writes young adult novels under a pen name and guide books under his own name. He's basically the Rick Steves for North America. Though he has been taking a bit of the break since Laura and Keri died and he became Talia's full time parent."

"He's doing a great job with her. She's a complete sweetheart."

"I know. We're watched her grow since she was a baby here, and she's so much like Derek. I remember when she was a baby and Keri used to bring her to the office with her. They've only been gone a year, but sometimes it just feels like yesterday."

Stiles bit his lip. "Can I ask what happened? Derek mentioned a car crash, but I didn't want to ask for details. I know how much that can suck."

Ellie gave him a long look before answering. "Keri and Laura had gone up to Boston for a conference. The original plan was for Talia to go with them, but she was a little under the weather. The full moon had hit her hard that month, so they left her with Derek. There was a storm on the way back, and their car went off the road. Laura and Keri were dead when the authorities got there."

Stiles blinked. "But they were both werewolves. That doesn't make sense."

"You and I know it. And honestly, the detective I talked with thought that someone might have tampered with the car. But he could never get enough proof or find any sort of suspect."

Probably because he didn't know what or who to look for. But Stiles did. And he really didn't think that Laura and Keri's accident was that. But he would keep that to himself.

"Anything else I can do for you, Stiles?"

"Nope. I've got over five hundred invitations to address, so I'd probably better get to work."

Ellie gave him another look. "You take care of yourself, Stiles. And take care of Derek too if you can."

Stiles was going to do his best.


	3. Chapter 3

In between hand addressing about six hundred invitations, Stiles did his best to find every bit of public information on Laura Hale's death that he could. He was pretty sure that he was eventually going to have to get a hold of the police reports, but he would start small. Stiles had always had a knack for research and making connections. It had come in useful when Scott had been a newly bitten werewolf and afterwards when they were dealing with all sorts of supernatural threats. Stiles had always been good at seeing patterns; it was one of the reasons he was so interested in his father's work in law enforcement.

And Stiles was seeing a pattern here. It seemed that someone was systematically working to wipe out the Hale family. First there had been the fire. Then Laura Hale and her wife. Now Derek Hale was in a relationship he clearly didn't want to be in and something was threatening the company that his sister had built. Stiles had a hunch that Kate Argent was the common factor between everything. He just couldn't prove it. Yet.

But that project was going to take some time. And he had other things to worry about right now. Like making sure that everything was on track with Scott and Allison's wedding. He was just waiting for Scott and Allison to Skype him for their weekly wedding meeting.

"Hey, Stiles."

"Hey guys. What's up in Beacon Hills?"

After a round of the latest gossip from home, the three of them got down to business. There really wasn't a lot to check on at this point. They were now about five months out from the wedding. Just about everything was in place except for things that didn't make sense to worry about until closer to the wedding. Allison had already picked out her dress.

"So, I've got my second fitting next week, but other than that, there's nothing new here," Allison concluded. "At least, wedding wise."

She paused a moment then asked, "So what have you heard from Kate and her plans?"

Stiles sighed. "To be honest, Ally, I don't have much contact with her. She typically sends her orders through Derek. He's the one I see on a regular basis. But the wedding is slowly coming together. It's going to be quite an event if Kate was her way. Think Lydia's wedding with more flash and less taste."

"What's her fiancé like?" Scott asked.

Stiles shrugged, trying to figure out how to describe Derek. "It's sort of hard to say. Derek's pretty reserved except when he's interacting with his daughter. She's got to be one of the cutest kids I've ever met. Talia's a complete sweetheart, and its obvious that Derek completely adores her. To be honest, the only thing we've really talked much about that is personal was what happened with Peter."

Allison was frowning. "Is the little girl a werewolf too?"

"Yup. She's about four years old, but she already has the healing factor. I don't know about the rest of the abilities. Why?"

Ally bit her lip. "It's just...Kate hates werewolves. This whole thing with her being engaged to one? That makes me uncomfortable. I really don't think she's changed her mind about them. And to have a child involved? It rubs me the wring way."

Stiles agreed with her. "Derek wouldn't let anything happen to Talia. I do know that much. Other than that I think we are just going to have to wait and see."

The subject changed, but Stiles couldn't quite let go of the fact that Allison was worried about Kate's actions. There had been a time when Allison had been Kate's biggest defender. The two of them had been very close when Ally was younger, and while they might have grown apart over the years, Allison had never really gone as far as to cut herself off from Kate and the more extreme members of the Argent family. At least until lately.

Eventually, they finally hung up, and Stiles got back to work on Kate's invitations. He was about two thirds of the way done with them, and he wanted this part of the task to be over with. It was mind numbingly boring, and it required him to concentrate so his penmanship was legible. His phone ringing was a welcome distraction.

"Hey, this is Stiles."

"Stiles, it's Derek Hale. I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor."

"Sure. What do you need?" Stiles figured that it couldn't be too bad.

"I know that it's pretty last minute, but I need someone to watch Talia tonight, and all of my regular sitters are busy. I was hoping that you'd be able to take care of her for a couple of hours. It probably won't be too long."

"Not a problem. Do you want me to come over there, or are you two coming to me?"

"If you could come over? That would be great.:

"Just tell me when."

"Six o'clock? Would that work?"

"Sure. I'll see you then."

"Thank you, Stiles." And with that Derek hung up.

It wouldn't be the first time Stiles had babysat. It wouldn't even be the first werewolf he babysat. Well, okay, Talia might be the first werewolf child he'd taken care, but Talia seemed like a complete sweetheart. It probably wouldn't be all that bad, and quite honestly, Stiles liked children. Having kids of his own looked like it would be far in the future at this point, but he was quite happy to spend time with other people's kids whenever he could.

So Stiles was prepared when he showed up at Derek's townhouse. He had a bag with a bunch of picture books, some coloring sheets, crayons, and a stuffed frog. And Talia probably had all sorts of things of her own to keep her entertain.

Derek opened the door with a sheepish smile. "Thanks for doing this at the last minute. I really appreciate it."

"Like I said, it's not a problem."

"Come on in. We ordered pizza as a treat since I'm not going to be home tonight, and you're welcome to join us."

That was how Stiles found himself sitting at the dinner table next to Talia eating a deep dish cheese pizza.

"Cheese is the best flavor," Talia told him solemnly.

"Is there anything I need to know?" he asked Derek.

"Bedtime is at eight. We typically read about two or three picture books. Talia's lullaby cd is in her cd player, so you'll just have to start it. Talia can have one hour of TV this evening. She knows where all of her dvds are. There's ice cream in the freezer. Talia can have a small bowl for dessert."

Stiles nodded.

"I'll have be cell phone with me, and if anything happens, call me. I'd rather know than not know."

"Sounds good to me."

It was another fifteen minutes before Derek left. He watched as the man spoke softly to his daughter and gave her a hug and a kiss before heading out. Then the two of them were left alone.

"Well, Miss Talia. It looks like it's just you and me. What do you want to do?"

She considered him gravely. "Dessert."

The two of them ended up curled up on the couch with their ice cream watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Stiles figured there were worse ways to spend an evening. By the time the two part episode Talia had picked ended, the little girl was yawning.

"All right, kiddo, let's get you ready for bed."

"Okay."

He helped Talia brush her teeth and finish getting ready for bed. They only made it through one of the books before Talia dropped off. Stiles tucked her in and turned on her cd just in case. Then he shut the door behind him.

It didn't take Stiles long to realize that he hadn't exactly planned on something to entertain himself once Talia was asleep. So instead he wandered about the townhouse. Not into Derek's bedroom, but in the public areas of the place. He looked in Derek's kitchen cabinet's and in the fridge. Apparently, Derek really liked Frosted Flakes. He perused Derek's bookshelves. It was an interesting mix of titles. Everything from travel guides to history to foreign languages. His fiction collection held classics, lots of children's chapter books, cozy mysteries, and large selection of young adult literature.

Stiles ended up settling on the couch with one of the YA novels. It wasn't one he'd heard of before, but it sounded interesting. Before he realized it, Stiles was captivated by the tale of Lis and the wolves in his woods. The sound of the front door closing made him start and nearly flail off of the couch.

"You okay?" Derek's voice was soft.

"Yeah. I just got caught up in the book. Well, that and you clearly need a bell if you're that good at sneaking up on people," Stiles knew that he was rambling, but he couldn't seem to stop. "Stealth isn't exactly the strongest suit of most of the werewolves I know. Except for Boyd maybe. Of course, with Boyd you get Erica, and stealth is definitely not her-"

Derek chuckled. "Stiles, breathe. Talia's asleep?"

"Out like a light."

"Good. She sometimes has trouble settling in with a sitter. But she does seem to like you a lot more than most people."

"She's a good kid. Did you meeting go okay?"

Derek sighed, "Fine. I'm just not used to the politics of being an Alpha in the big city."

Stiles winced. Scott had had a couple of territory issues with other packs over the years, and the Beacon Hills territory was huge. He couldn't imagine what it was like having multiple packs in one city.

"Thank you again for the last minute save."

Stiles smiled. "Not a problem. I don't mind babysitting occasionally."

Stiles said his goodbyes before things could get awkward. Derek insisted on paying him for his time. He headed home feeling a little bit sad. Part of him had wanted to stay longer and try to get to know Derek a little better. He seemed different in his own space more at ease, and Stiles had to admit that he was curious. The more he looked into things with Derek and Kate, the less there was that seemed to make sense.

He didn't see Derek after that for at least another week. Stiles was busy with a number of different things. He had the last little bit of follow up with the Stark Trek wedding. It had been a great success, and Stiles was just getting the finishing touches on the couple's album done. He also had some calls in make in regards to vendors for all three of the weddings he currently had on his plate.

And he was also doing quite a bit of snooping as well. Stiles had managed to get his hands on the police report from Laura and Keri's accident. There were more than a few things about it that seemed hinky to Stiles. There had been a lot of evidence that had been damaged, lost, or rendered unusable. The biggest piece of that being the car itself which had been "accidentally" sent for destruction before they could do a through inspection of the brakes.

Stiles was also trying to track Kate's movements over the past ten years. He could already place her as living in Beacon Hills when the Hale fire happened, but he had the feeling that she had been in the New York area when Laura and Keri were killed as well. Stiles knew that Danny probably had his team looking into similar things if the lead Stiles had given him panned out, but Stiles felt better having done his own research as well.

The biggest problem was if you took the werewolf/hunter conflict out of the equation, he really had no reason to suspect that Kate Argent was connected to both crimes. Which made it kind of difficult to take this matter to the police. What Stiles really needed was some sort of smoking gun. He had the feeling that once a law enforcement agency really started looking at Kate Argent, they were going to find quite a few skeletons in her closet. But first he had to find something to get law enforcement looking. Or hopefully, Danny would find something.

That would really be the best case scenario. Because quite honestly Stiles didn't want Kate's attention focused on him. And he certainly didn't want to cause a situation where she might go after Derek or Talia because she thought they were responsible. Stiles was well are that all it would take was one little mistake and Kate would see that as justification for killing Derek. Stiles didn't know if then Kate would go after Talia as well, and he really didn't want to find out.

Which was why Stiles was being very careful to cover his tracks. He didn't know what kind of skills Kate had when it came to the internet, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious. What he had found so far wasn't entirely encouraging. It looked like Kate had been in New York last year when the accident had happened. Stiles was still trying to find out where she had been employed. He was worried about Derek and Talia. Derek seemed to be okay so far. He clearly wasn't happy about the marriage as far as Stiles could tell, but at the same time he also wasn't content with his life either. The question was how long would that last?

He texted Danny to see if he and Isaac wanted to get together for dinner sometime this week. He hadn't seen either of them in a while, and it wouldn't hurt to check in. Normally, they tried to get together at least once a month, but Danny had a major case last month and Isaac had been covering for sick coworkers the month before that, so it had been awhile, especially if you didn't count that visit to Danny's office.

The Skype window on his laptop pinged with an incoming call, and Stiles was quick to answer it.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"

Stiles bit his lip, trying to figure out how much to say. "Yeah, I think so. Juggling Scott's wedding and Kate's wedding is getting to me a little."

John frowned. "Are you going to be all right doing both weddings?"

Stiles shrugged. "I have my concerns about Kate. You know that. I don't think that Derek's really thrilled to be marrying her, but there is really nothing I can act on at this point."

"Son, are you meddling?"

"Not really? I mean I might be looking into a couple of things, but I haven't really done anything."

"Stiles."

Stiles sighed. "Okay, so I've babysat his little girl, and I might have asked Danny to take a look and see if what's going on with his sister's business is just bad business or something more sinister. I don't think Derek really has any friends, Dad, and there's just something about him that makes me a little protective of him."

His dad sighed too. "Just be careful, son. It isn't your place to interfere unless Derek asks you to. At least unless you think that either he or his daughter in real danger."

"I know."

And he did. He really couldn't do more than he already was unless he had either solid evidence or Derek asked him for help. At least, not without risking his business. Though if it did come down to a choice between his business and Derek's life, Stiles knew which he'd pick. Trying to shake off his grim thoughts, he changed the subject.

"So, how's your new sniffer dog settling in?"

That made his dad laugh. "He's driving Parrish crazy. Just yesterday he managed to steal his lunch for the fourth time."

By the time that Stiles gets off the computer after talking with Dad for an hour, he's feeling much better. Danny had texted him back suggesting that they meet up La Coco's for pizza the next evening. Stiles set back an affirmative reply. Then he groaned when he realized that he really needed to do laundry. The rest of the day was spent catching up on housework and marathoning Arrow. Stiles was in the mood for superheroes.

He does manage to make it to La Coco's on time the next evening, though it was a near thing. He'd gotten a last minute phone call from Kate Argent, and it had taken far more time than he'd expected to get away from her. Apparently, she hadn't believed Derek about the no venders did flaming entrees for weddings thing. It took twenty minutes for Stiles to assure her that it was true and it wasn't a problem that she could make go away by throwing money at it.

Spotting Isaac in a corner booth, Stiles waved and made his way back to him.

"Hey, Isaac. Danny here yet?"

The curly haired nurse shook his head. "He's on his way. He got stuck at the office."

"How's life in the ER?"

Isaac let out a groan. "We've just got a bunch of new staff, and it's been crazy getting everyone up to speed. Plus I'm stuck on graveyard shift for at least another month."

"That sucks."

Danny arrived seconds later. "Sorry about that. Have you ordered yet?"

Isaac shook his head and leaned in to kiss his husband. "Nah. Stiles just got here too."

The three of them ordered their beers and pizza before settling in to catch up with one another. Isaac always had great stories about strange things that had happened in the ER while Danny had the wacky adventures of the FBI to share. Stiles himself contributed crazy wedding stories. It was a fun way to spend an evening. The three of them were debating whether to stick around for dessert or head a couple of blocks away for ice cream when Danny gave Stiles a long look.

"So, I may owe you one for that lead you gave me."

That immediately caught Stiles' attention. "With Rosenhale?"

"Yeah. That's the one. You were definitely right about something going on there. We're still looking into it. The big question is where this a straight embezzlement case or if our embezzler was trying to frame someone else for it."

"So you don't know who the embezzler is yet."

Danny just gave him a look. "Stiles, you know that I can't comment on an open case."

Stiles sighed. "I know. I'm just worried about Derek. Every so often I see a break in his façade, and he seems miserable about marrying Kate."

Isaac was scrutinizing Stiles' face. "You like him."

"Well, of course. He seems like a great guy."

Isaac shook his head. "No, I mean you _like_ him. You still smell a little like him actually."

Stiles sighed again. "I babysat his four year earlier this week."

Isaac frowned. "He let you near his kid? That's saying something. What's his pack like?"

"Derek doesn't have one. Not beyond, Talia, his daughter. His sister and her wife were really the only other pack members."

Danny nodded. "The ones who died in a car accident."

That made Isaac's frown deepen. "That's a pretty isolated werewolf. I mean, I'm still part of Scott's pack, so I haven't bothered except for the occasional run, but there are two big packs in town. Why hasn't we joined up with them?"

Stiles just shrugged. "Part of is probably that he is an Alpha himself, though he's only been one for about a year. But I'm pretty sure there are some trust issues as well. You realize he's Derek Hale from home, right?"

Isaac shook his head. "Should I know who that is? Well, other than he's probably related to Peter."

Stiles frowned. "I'm not sure? I mean, we were kids when the Hale fire happened, but it's one of those things that everyone at home seems to known about. The Hales were a large family pack. Laura and Derek weren't home when the fire happened, so they were the only survivors besides Peter. Of course, they hightailed it out of Beacon Hills soon after and never went back. I think that Derek is probably reluctant to join a new pack after loosing so many people, but that's just a guess on my part."

Isaac sighed. "He sounds lonely."

"I think he is."

The waitress showed up then with a dessert menu and the subject was dropped.

Stiles went into the office the next morning to take a look at his schedule. With both Scott and Kate's weddings approaching in the next few months, he had some travel plans to make. He'd been planning on being in Beacon Hills a month before Scott's wedding, but now with another wedding the week before, Stiles needed to move up his time table some. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Stiles was looking forward to spending some time at home. As much as he enjoyed life in the big city, it wasn't really home to him, and he missed everyone back in Beacon Hills. Stiles had actually thought about moving home, but it never seemed like the right time to do that.

Once he'd booked a flight, Stiles turned his attention to other matters. He currently had three weddings on his plate. Scott and Allison's, Kate and Derek's, and Jacob and Rachel's. The last one wasn't until November though. Stiles had been talking with a couple who wanted him to plan their wedding which was scheduled for next May, but they were based out of the Bay area. On the other hand, it would give Stiles the opportunity to move home if he wanted to. But part of him wanted to wait and see what happened here before he made that decision. Stiles didn't exactly want to abandon Derek, especially if his meddling caused major upheaval in the werewolf's life. And now that the FBI were seriously involved, it might.

Stiles sighed and got to work on some of the preliminary things for Rachel and Jacob's wedding. The couple had been referred to him by Danny. He already had their venue booked and was currently working on caterers and someone to do their wedding cake. Luckily, they would be getting married Maryland, and Stiles knew an awesome bakery in the area. He was engrossed in getting things together for his next meeting with the couple that he didn't even notice that he wasn't alone anymore until Isaac set the coffee cup down in front of him.

"Hey."

Isaac grinned. "Hey, Stiles. Do you have a minute?"

"For you, sure. What's up?"

Isaac sighed. "Stiles, just how close are you to Derek?"

Stiles blinked at his friend. "What?"

"Look, I might be wrong about this, but last night it seemed like you cared about him way more than usual. I know you always get close to your clients, but this seemed far more than usual."

Stiles shrugged. "I've got a soft spot for single fathers. And you know how I get when I see signs of possible abuse in a relationship."

"Yeah, but when you talk about Derek, you kind of light up. Be honest, Stiles."

Stiles sighed. He'd been avoiding thinking about this for awhile now.

"I am attracted to Derek. And I probably could fall in love with him. I've been trying not to though. I know I'd only be setting myself up for heartache."

Isaac sighed as well. "That was what I was afraid of. Look, Danny and I are here if you need us. Even if it is just to drag you out to a club to get your mind off of the guy."

Stiles smiled. "Thanks, Isaac."

"Not a problem. I'll let you get back to work."

Unfortunately, even after Isaac left, Stiles couldn't get his mind off of the subject. He groaned. Was he really interfering for the right reasons? He didn't really have any proof that Derek needed help. Just hunches and gossip. But at the same time, Stiles couldn't shake the feeling that there was something seriously wrong going on there. And he trusted his instincts, especially when it came to the supernatural. They were right more often than they were wrong, and in the past he'd been the one to spot trouble before his friends did.

Shaking his head, Stiles tried to turn his attention back to work. He'd dealt with an unrequited crush before. He could do it again. What he needed to focus on was helping Derek if he needed it and getting his job done. And if Derek and Kate didn't end up married, well, Stiles could think about the possibilities that provided if and when it happened.


	4. Chapter 4

He's in the middle of putting together information on photo packages for Derek and Kate's wedding when the man in question shows up with his daughter. Stiles blinked.

"Hey, I didn't think you were coming by until next week. Did I forget an appointment?"

Derek smiled. "No, you're right."

Then the smile slipped from his face. "Kate has a last minute meeting that she insists I be at, and I don't want to bring Talia. I was hoping you could watch her for an hour or so?"

Stiles nodded. "Sure. Any particular reason you don't want Talia there?"

Derek looked very comfortable. "A number of Kate's associates will be there."

"Say no more." Stiles wouldn't want to bring a young werewolf to a meeting with a bunch of hunters either. "We'll be here when you're done."

"Thanks, Stiles."

Once Derek left, Stiles got Talia settled with some coloring pages he printed out and crayons. Apparently, Talia had decided the best place to settle was in the footwell of his desk. It took a little getting used to, but soon Stiles was back at work. It seemed to be his day for visits though because not thirty minutes after Derek had left did Rachel and Jacob show up.

Rachel smiled at him. "Sorry to drop in on you unannounced, but we were in down, and it seemed like a good idea to check in. Work had been crazy lately."

Stiles smiled and gestured for the couple to take a seat. As they settled in the chairs on the other side of Stiles' desk, he realized that Jacob was peering under the desk.

"Who's this?"

"That's Talia. She's a little shy. I'm watching her for friend."

Jacob smiled. "Well then, we won't interrupt her."

It's a good meeting. Rachel and Jacob had updates for him regarding the wedding party and the guest list, and Stiles passed along information about bakeries and caterers. Talia tugged at his pants just after they left.

"Hungry."

Stiles smiled. "Me too. Let's see what we can find for a snack?"

With Talia's help, Stiles rummaged through the cabinets in the little kitchenette attached to his storefront. They managed to find an unopened box of Girl Scout cookies which Stiles figured would do. The two of them settled on the floor with the cookies and some milk. Stiles watched as Talia methodically dunked her cookies in the milk before she took each bite. Stiles wasn't entirely sure what to say to her. She'd been mostly silent the entire time, and for all that Stiles was very good at talking, he somehow wasn't sure what subject might actually engage her.

Talia solved that problem for him by finishing her cookies and then climbing into his lap.

"Tell me a story."

That was something Stiles could do. He ended up modifying the tale a little bit, to make it a little more child friendly, but Stiles related the tale of how he and Scott had helped Lydia save Jackson from being a kamina. That seemed to keep Talia's attention quite well, and Stiles enjoyed the break from computer work. He was just winding down the story when Derek returned. Stiles couldn't quite read the look on Derek's face when he looked up from the little girl to find the werewolf watching them.

"…and the power of Lydia's kiss brought Jackson back to life and turned him into a real werewolf. The end."

Talia narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not a real fairytale."

Stiles shook his head. "Nope, it's not. It's a true story. I planned Lydia and Jackson's wedding myself."

At Talia's skeptical look, Stiles pointed to one of the pictures on the wall. "See, that was actually the first wedding I planned."

"For a werewolf and a banshee?" Derek asked.

Stiles shrugged as Talia displayed werewolf speed in attacking her father with a hug. "They're friends of mine, and Lydia was working on her dissertation at the time. It was either I plan her wedding or Lydia committed matricide."

Derek hoisted Talia up on his hip, letting her bury her face in the crook of his neck. "It sounds like you have interesting friends."

"You can say that again. We all pretty much got dumped into the supernatural world in high school, but surviving that experience it was really cemented most of the friendships we share."

Derek just shook his head. "We should get going. Thanks again, Stiles. We'll see you next week."

"See you then."

Stiles let out a sigh after they left. For some reason, his office felt empty.

He spent the rest of the week focusing on things other than the whole Derek Hale situation and the way that it made him feel. Stiles had plenty of other things that could occupy his mind. Which was why by the end of the week his apartment was both sparkling clean and fully stocked with groceries, his emails were all caught up with, he was as far as he could get with planning for his other clients, and he was out of good distractions.

That really left him with a few options. He could go bug Danny and Isaac. He didn't really want to go clubbing, but that's what it took, maybe he would. He could call home and bug either his dad or Scott or even Boyd. If Stiles tried to call Lydia or Erica, he knew they would call him on his attempts to stay deep in denial. And Stiles really wasn't ready to deal with that. Isaac may have made him admit to his feelings, but he was going to try and go back to ignoring them for as long as possible.

At least, that was his plan until he got the results back from one of the searches he'd done on Kate Argent. He managed to get a hold of at least some of her employment history, and now Stiles was searching for any strange crimes that took out families where she worked. Stiles wasn't sure if the Hales had been the first werewolf pack she had taken out, but he didn't think they had been the last one. So far, he'd already identified two possible fires that she might have been responsible for. The hardest part was Stiles really had know way of knowing if the families killed were werewolves or not. Because Scott wasn't born into the community, his pack didn't have a lot of connections to the rest of the supernatural world, and they didn't really know much about the supernatural landscape outside of Beacon Hills.

After updating the file he's been keeping on Kate Argent (just in case he ever needs it), Stiles decided he needed to get out of his apartment for a little while. It's a nice day out, and he has nothing else to do, so Stiles goes meandering. He wanders through the streets of his neighborhood, popping in and out of the little shops and on occasion buying things that catch his eye. He stopped by a hot dog stand for lunch and decided to swing by the library and see if he could find something good to read. Maybe he could find that book he'd started at Derek's.

The librarian actually knew the title when he described the book and sent Stiles off to the teen section with the author's name. Stiles found half a dozen books by the same author and decided to go for broke. It had been a while since he'd been on a good book binge. He was just finishing checking out when he heard a woman cooing.

"Well, aren't you the cutest thing ever. I bet your daddy just dotes on you. Do you want me to-"

The next thing Stiles knew there was a four year old hiding behind his legs. Stiles carefully juggled his books so he could get an arm free.

"Talia?"

She gave him the universal signal for wanting to be picked up. Stiles didn't spot Derek anywhere around, so he set down his books in order to scoop her up and perch her on his hip. Talia immediately buried her face in the crook of his neck, and Stiles found himself face to face with a perfectly coiffed, predatory looking woman. She frowned at Stiles.

"I don't think that's your daughter."

Stiles smiled. "Nope. But Miss Talia and I are good friends."

Talia was snuffling into his neck, scenting him. Then again, given the amount of perfume this woman was wearing, he couldn't exactly blame her. Stiles shifted so he was mostly in between Talia and the woman. He assumed that Derek was around here somewhere, but he wasn't about to abandon her now.

"I don't think I know who you are though." Stiles does have some guesses; she looked exactly like the type of woman who went trawling for single fathers.

"Talia?" There was more than a hint of panic in Derek's voice.

"Over here, Derek," Stiles called. The last thing he wanted to deal with was a panic werewolf who couldn't find his daughter.

Derek rounded the corner, and Stiles could see some of the panic leave the man's eyes when he spotted Stiles. Derek sighed.

"Talia, I've told you before that you can't run off when I'm not with you."

She lifted her head from Stiles neck and made a face. "Stiles."

Derek smiled. "I know you like Stiles. That doesn't mean you can run off whenever you spot him."

The woman was looking between the three of them with a rapidly growing frown. Derek turned his attention to Stiles.

"Sorry about that. Thanks for corralling her though. I swear, I turn my back for one minute…"

Stiles just laughed. "Trust me, I pulled that maneuver on my parents all the time. And I always have time for Miss Talia, though we probably shouldn't give your papa a heart attack just because I'm too awesome to resist."

The woman was still hanging around. Derek shifted a little closer to Stiles. It was clear that Derek wasn't interested, she wasn't getting the message, and Derek seemed very uncomfortable. Stiles decided that it was time for them to get out of here.

"Would you grab my books, Der? I was thinking about grabbing some ice cream before heading home."

Derek offered the first genuine smile Stiles had seen today. "Sounds good."

He scooped up Stiles' books without comment, and the two of them headed out the door. It wasn't until they were safely out of sight of the library that Derek spoke.

"Thank you. That woman never seems to get the hint."

Stiles just grinned. "Not a problem. Does this happen to you a lot?"

Derek let out a groan. "More often than I think. And telling them I'm engaged does no good. It's potentially the only good thing about being engaged, and it still doesn't do me any good."

He wasn't quite sure how to answer that, so Stiles changed the subject. "So, Miss Talia, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

She considered the question seriously. "Mint chocolate chip. But not the green mint. The white mint. It tastes better."

"I see. What about your papa? What kind of ice cream does he like?"

"Papa is boring. He always gets lemon."

The three of them end up going to Barton's for their ice cream. It's not the only ice cream shop in their neighborhood, but it was the best in Stiles' opinion. Talia got her mint chocolate chip (with white ice cream not green ice cream) in a little cup, and Derek got his lemon gelato. Stiles got himself a waffle cone with chocolate peanut butter ice cream and insisted on paying for all three of them.

"It was my idea after all."

But it was clear after they'd finished their ice cream that Talia was definitely ready for a nap, so Stiles headed on home with his pile of books. The rest of the afternoon was spent curled up with a book. It put him in a good mood the next day when he went in to the office for a few minor tasks. Which was immediately shattered when Kate Argent walked in. She was alone, and Stiles hadn't been expecting her.

"Ms. Argent, what can I do for you?"

Kate smiled at him. "I just wanted to drop by and chat. Allison's been so busy lately that we haven't had time to chat, and I'm dying to hear about the latest for her wedding."

Stiles was very glad he had a policy in place for situations like this. It was one of the first things he had set up, and it was in his contract. So Kate must not have read hers closely if she was asking about Allison's wedding.

"Unfortunately, my contract specifies that I can't talk about other weddings I'm planning unless it's with individuals designated by the couple. The only people I'm authorized to discuss wedding plans with for Allison's wedding are Chris and Melissa."

Kate's expression turned sly. "I'm sure you can make an exception for me."

Stiles shook his head. "I really can't. I make one exception, and everyone gets mad. Besides, it would violate my contract and leave me open to lawsuits."

Kate arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Kate sighed. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way."

Stiles was glad that he was in a public place and that he had nosy neighbors. Because he was pretty certain that if Kate could have gotten away with doing something to him, she would have. She was certainly doing her level best to intimidate Stiles. He felt closer to a panic attack than he had been in years by the time she left. How Derek put up with the woman was beyond Stiles.

Deciding that he wasn't going to get anything else done feeling as jittery as he did. Stiles headed home. He'd go for a run to burn off his excess energy and then watch Iron Chef while he did computer work from home. At least that way he didn't have to worry about anyone else popping in on him unexpected. Stiles didn't think he could handle any more surprises today.

He was looking forward to seeing Derek again though, and Stiles got to the office early the day of their appointment to set up. It was another morning meeting, so once again he'd gone with the staples of doughnuts and good coffee. Derek and Talia arrived right on time as usual. Talia hugged him then skipped over the corner Stiles had set up for her and a happily immersed herself in coloring books and crayons. Derek was another story. He seemed wary and jittery, and he flinched away from Stiles whenever he came close. And sadly, Stiles did recognize this sort of behavior. Isaac had been the same way when he'd first moved in with Scott and his mom. He might have been a werewolf, but years of abuse left their mark.

So Stiles tried not to make any sudden moves around him and to hide his anger. He wasn't angry at Derek, and he didn't want to scare Derek off. The only thing that makes him even a little bit better about the situation was the fact that Talia show absolutely none of the same signs. So whatever was going on, Derek was protecting Talia from it. And that could be how Kate was controlling Derek come to think of it. There wasn't much a parent wouldn't do to protect their child.

The thing is Stiles can't ignore this. And even if it makes things awkward between them, he has to bring it up.

"Derek, is Kate hurting you? Do you need help getting away from her?" Stiles kept his voice low in order to keep Talia from hearing.

Derek stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"

Stiles took a breath. "You're moving like your hurt, and you're acting like you expect to be attacked at any moment. You're safe here. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Derek just continued to stare at him, and Stiles has to wonder if anyone had bothered to take care of Derek since his sister died. But it doesn't matter. Because Stiles is going to take care of Derek now. He reached out a careful hand and rest it on Derek's shoulder.

"Do you need to be patched up? I've got a werewolf first aid kit in the kitchenette."

Derek shook his head. "I'm healing. It's just taking longer than normal."

That was confirmation enough for Stiles. "So Kate does hurt you."

Derek shrugged. "On occasion. It doesn't happen often."

"It shouldn't happen at all."

That just made Derek sigh. "There's a lot of my life that could be described like that."

Somehow that didn't make Stiles feel better.

"So, this is probably a dumb question, given I think if you could, you would have already gotten away from her, but is there any way you could just leave town and get away from Kate?"

Derek shook his head. "Not without putting other lives in danger. I've been trying to find a way out since Kate first reappeared. The only option I really have is to find some way of getting Talia away somewhere safe, and I haven't had much luck with that. Most packs don't want to take on the risk of knowing that a hunter might come looking specifically for someone under there protection when that person isn't already their pack."

That just pissed Stiles off all the more. And it also gave him pause. Derek was looking at sending his daughter away so she would be safe. She was the only family that Derek had left, and he was at the point where sending her away was the best option.

"What can I do to help?"

"Stay out of it." He continued before Stiles could protest. "I don't want you on Kate's radar any more than you already are. If worst comes to worst, you have pack connections too, and given that Beacon Hills is technically still Hale territory. Of course, Kate has connections there too, but I'm hoping that the McCall pack could keep her safe."

"I'm guessing you really don't want to hear about photo packages and the pros and cons of having a videographer today," Stiles said.

Derek just sighed. "Kate will want to know what we discussed and what I decided."

"And I can tell what to say about that. Just relax for a little while. Like I said, you're safe here, and it seems like you could use a break."

He coaxed Derek into coffee and doughnuts and struck up a conversation about baseball. Stiles watched as Derek relaxed in increments. He never completely relaxed, but he did lose a lot of the tension he'd been carrying around when he arrived. Stiles' brain was frantically making plans even as they debated favorite teams and players. The biggest problem with werewolves and abuse was the physical evidence disappeared too quickly to really be helpful to law enforcement. But that didn't mean there weren't steps Stiles could take.

That could wait though until after Derek and Talia had gone home. Until then, Stiles was more than happy to just chat with Derek in a conversation that some how went from baseball to young adult literature though Stiles wasn't entire sure how they got there.

"I actually have to thank you. You had that Deirdre O'Connor book on your shelf that I started the other day. It was great. When I went to the library I picked it up along with a bunch of her other books. How did you discover her? I can't believe I hadn't heard of her before."

The tips of Derek's ears were red. "Um. I might know the author."

"Really? That's right. Ellie at Rosenhale mentioned you were an author yourself. I hope she writes more in the series. I really like the fact that while all of the novels stand alone because they're in different time periods, you can follow the families of the characters and see how things change and affect them."

"There are another two books planned for the series at least."

The penny dropped for Stiles. "Oh my god! You're Deirdre O'Connor."

Derek was definitely blushing. Stiles just stared at him wide eyed.

"I thought you wrote travel books."

"I do. Those are published under my name. But Laura thought that the YA novels would sell better if people that a woman had written them, and Connor was my dad's name." Derek looked a little bit embarrassed. "Keri and Laura thought it was hilarious when the series started taking off. I play the reclusive author card in order to get out of book signings and the like, so no one knows except for the publisher."

That made Stiles laugh. "Well, they're great books. You already heard me gush about them. Tell me about these travel books of yours. Ellie mentioned that you were something like Rick Steves?"

That seemed to put Derek at ease. "I like to mix interesting historical information in with the guide books. Places are just more interesting in my mind if you know something about them. I'd actually like to do a series when Talia's a little older about traveling with your children and how to make that fun and interesting. I mean places like Disneyland and Universal Studios are fun vacation destinations, but I think there are a lot of missed opportunities for kids as well."

"History major?"

Derek shrugged. "Yeah. Well, that and English lit."

"Ambitious were we?"

"Sort of." Derek sighed. "I kind of shut down after the fire, and both Laura and Keri kept encouraging me to take more classes that actually got be out of the apartment. By the time I had enough credits to graduate I have a double major and a minor in foreign language and literature."

"See I just went with the wildly impractical route. I've got both a B.A. and a Masters in Folklore Studies."

"I don't know. I can see how that could come in useful for a human who runs with wolves."

"True, but it doesn't come with much in the way of job opportunities. I was lucky I fell into wedding planning."

"You seem to be doing well for yourself."

Stiles shrugged. "It's a good living if you can deal with the personalities. But it does take a people person and someone who can handle stress well. I've been pretty lucky to avoid any major disaster weddings. Though there have been enough mini disasters to give me some really good stories."

"You job would make for a really good amateur detective in a mystery series," Derek offered. "Weddings always have lots of tension, they'd be meeting new people all the time, and they would have a reason to poke their nose into the murder investigation."

He laughed at that. "I don't know. Would there be much of a market for a bisexual wedding planner main character?"

"Probably. At the very least it would be unique which is something sorely needed for cozies mysteries. Once a certain type of detective catches on, then you get all sorts of copy cats. Like the glut of food themed mysteries we currently have. Or all of the vampire ones. I'm so done with that particular gimmick. Just give me a good paranormal series without vampires. That's all I ask."

"You mean besides the one you write?"

"Yes. It's not as fun to read them if I'm the one who wrote them. I already know what's going to happen."

Once Derek and his daughter had headed on home, Stiles went from cheerful and concerned to grimly determined. It was time to start seriously calling in favors. Thankfully, he didn't have any other appointments today, so he was free to get to work. It wasn't long before he'd reached Danny's office. His friend looked up from his desk when Stiles walked in.

"Stiles?"

"We've got a problem."

Danny arched his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Kate is abusing Derek."

Danny became serious immediately. "You sure?"

"He pretty much confirmed it for me today. After he came in acting like Isaac used to. He also told me that he can't leave without putting too many lives in danger. It took me a while to figure it out, but I have. Rosenhale is a supernatural publishing company. Most of the staff are either supernaturals themselves or have connections to them, and I don't doubt that Kate has threaten both their livelihoods and their lives to keep Derek under her control. Hell, the man is looking for a safe pack to send his four year old to in order to keep her safe. I think he's desperate."

Danny sighed. "Stiles, you know that there are procedures we have to follow. We've got a case in the works, but it takes time build a case, and unfortunately, there's nothing you've given me which would make it more of a priority. And we both know the problem werewolves and injuries."

Stiles ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't have the resources to prove it, but I know that Kate has been murdering werewolf packs for years. If you look at her pattern of employment, there are family murders just about every place. My dad has evidence and witness statements that link her to the Hale fire. The only thing he doesn't have is someone who has actually seen her wear a necklace the woman who recruited the arsonist wore. But it's the Argent seal, so I know she has it."

"Why are you talking about my family's murder," the growl came from the doorway.

Stiles whipped around to stare at the woman standing there. She was almost the spitting image of the younger Laura from Derek's photos. Except her eyes were glowing a beta's gold.

"What are you talking about, Estevez?" Danny demanded.

"I was born Cora Hale."


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't understand," Danny said.

Stiles believed her. The uncanny resemblance to Laura was hard to argue with. The big question was how had she survived the fire and why hadn't she gone looking for her siblings.

Cora huffed and came into the office, shutting the door behind her. "Since you both smell like you've been around other wolves, I'm going to assume you know something about werewolves."

When they both nodded, she continued. "An alpha's order can sometimes make you do things you normally couldn't. The night of the fire my mom flashed her eyes at me and ordered me to run. By the time I stopped, I was in Oregon. I got put in the foster system, and the Estevezs ended up adopting me when I was twelve. Now why are you talking about the fire?"

"Because I know who's responsible for it," Stiles said, "and she's currently tormenting your brother."

"My brother is dead," Cora said flatly.

Stiles shook his head. "No, he's not. Both Laura and Derek survived. They weren't home when the fire started. Peter survived too, but that's another story. Laura died in a car crash a year ago. Which is also suspect by the way. Kate Argent was working for the rental company's garage at the time, Danny. But Derek is still alive. He has a four year old daughter too. Here."

Stiles quickly thumbed through his phone to find one of the pictures he had snapped of Derek and Talia together and handed it to the woman. Cora's eyes got wide and her breath hitched. Danny sighed.

"As much as I'd like to facilitate your family reunion immediately, we've got some other issues. If what you say is true, Stiles, and we can link Kate Argent to a number of murders, that will definitely speed up an arrest. However, if Cora is related to Derek than means she can't work on the case. And given what you've said, we want to keep her off of Kate Argent's radar as well."

Stiles nodded. "Derek would probably kill me if I let the hunter that's responsible for the most of his family being dead find out that his sister is alive. Especially since Kate is systematically trying to eradicate werewolves."

Both Cora and Danny stared at him. Stiles just shrugged.

"I've been trying to figure out why Kate didn't just arrange an accident for Derek and Talia. But then I realized that since Rosenhale is a supernatural publishing company, they have to have records of where other werewolves live. If Kate could get her hands on that, it would make it a lot easier for hunters to find werewolves."

Cora was looking at him with wary respect. "That makes a surprising amount of sense."

"And makes it all the more important that our case against her is solid," Danny said. "Stiles, get out of here. I've got work to do. Cora can walk you out. If anything else serious happens with Derek, call me. We'll figure something out."

Stiles nodded. He and Cora headed out and an awkward silence descended. Stiles wasn't entire sure what to say to her. It sort of felt like he should know her when he didn't. He felt like he knew Laura a little from his talks with Derek and Ellie, but Cora was a mystery. Derek didn't talk much about his past before New York that much. And it seemed like Cora was at just as much as a loss as he was. It wasn't until they reached the front door that she spoke.

"Look, I don't know you, but at least you seem to be trying to take care of my brother. Keep doing that."

"I'll try."

Stiles headed back to his apartment. He needed to find something else he could do to help. Danny and the FBI were all well and good, but they did have some limitations since the fact that werewolves existed wasn't common knowledge. At the very least, Stiles was going to make sure Derek had a safe place to send Talia if he need to. That was actually fairly easy to do. Both his dad and Melissa were certified to take in foster kids, and Chris Argent would eviscerate any hunter, even his sister, that tried to harm a child in Beacon Hills. So all that took was a slightly awkward phone call.

"How would you feel about a foster kid?"

"Stiles," he could hear his father's concern, "what's going on?"

"Derek is worried about his daughter's safety. It hasn't gotten to the point where he's ready to send her away, but he's looking for options in case he does need to."

"That sounds serious, son."

"Danny has the FBI working on things, but he's a werewolf, Dad, the physical abuse doesn't last long enough for law enforcement to use that against her. He's getting desperate though, and he's worried about his little girl."

His dad sighed. "Either Melissa or I could take her temporarily. Be honest with me, Stiles, how bad is the situation?"

"Kate's physically abusing Derek on occasion. I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that Kate is responsible for Laura Hale's death. And I'm pretty sure that the only reason that Derek is still alive is because Kate needs him right now."

"Danny's working on the case?"

"Yes, but you know how long it can take to make an arrest."

"You have to let the process work, Stiles," his dad reminds him. "Danny will get things taken care of, and we can support Derek however he needs us to."

He knows that there's not much beyond that that he can do, but Stiles still feels antsy after the phone call. He needs something to do, and it ends up being baking. Making brownies might not actually help the situation any, but at the very least it does give Stiles something to do with himself.

Stiles didn't see Derek or Talia at all in the next week. He didn't have any appointments with Derek scheduled, and he hadn't run into them either. If Stiles was completely honest with himself, he kind of misses them. Stiles liked spending time with both Derek and Talia. He'd call Derek a friend at this point, and Stiles missed his presence. He actually was considering calling Derek up and seeing if he wanted to do something. Stiles really hadn't been the one to do that before, but he figured that it couldn't hurt. The worst that could happen was Derek either didn't have the time to hang out or just didn't want to hang out.

There was at least some reason to fear that last one. Stiles was after all a pretty big reminder of the mess that Derek was in. Even if he did enjoy Stiles' company, it was probably hard not to be reminded of that. Stiles kept debating in his head whether it was a good idea to call the man up or not. In the end, Stiles doesn't end up calling Derek, mostly because he got distracted by a minor kerfuffle with Jacob and Rachel's venue booking. By the time he was done sorting that out, Stiles found himself having spent most of the day at his office. So he figured he might as well spend the rest of the day being productive. Stiles was immersed in sorting through emails when there was a soft rap at the door.

He looked up to find Talia standing there with a backpack. Stiles nearly tripped over himself in order to let her inside. Talia immediately latched onto him. Stiles carefully scooped her up in his arms. Talia's immediately buried her face in the crook of his neck and just clung to him.

"Talia, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Papa took me to the subway and told me where to get off. He said to run away if anyone besides you or a police officer tried to talk to me. He smelled scared when he hugged me goodbye."

Stiles gently rubbed her back, settling the two of them in his chair. He wasn't entirely sure what to do next. Clearly, Derek had sent Talia to him because he thought Stiles could protect her. The big question was why? What had happened that Derek had sent his four year old here on her own? It took a little maneuvering, but Stiles managed to get his hands on his cell phone and started texting Danny. He didn't know when Danny might read them, but it seemed like the sort of thing that he would want to know.

He realized that Talia wasn't just scenting him, but she was also quietly crying.

"Talia?"

"The mean lady is going to hurt Papa again. He always smells sad and hurt and unhappy after she visits." Talia clung a little tighter. "I just want her to go away. I want her to leave me and Papa alone."

Stiles rocked her slightly, rubbing a hand up and down her back. Stiles was out of his depth. He really didn't know what to do with a crying child, and it wasn't like he could promise her it would be all right because he didn't know it that it would be. And he didn't know if he should get the two of them out of here. Derek had sent Talia to his office. Did Derek expect to find them here or had he just sent Talia here because he thought Stiles would be here? Would anyone besides Derek come looking for them?

Stiles sighed. He was going to have to make a decision sooner or later about what to do. Talia eventually stopped crying, though she did not let go of Stiles. He had the feeling she was going to very clingy, even when she got her papa back. Stiles couldn't blame her either. He coaxed her into letting go of him long enough for him to close the blinds as well as taking the precaution of locking the front door. He had the feeling that being cautious in this case was a very good idea.

He didn't know how long they sat there together. Talia didn't seem to want to do anything except cling to him, and Stiles didn't want to upset her further. So he didn't know how long she'd been there when the front door rattled. Talia whimpered.

"It's the mean lady. Make her go away, Stiles."

Carefully getting to his feet, Stiles made sure Talia was securely perched on his hip. There was a backdoor to his office, and it seemed like now was a good time to use it.

"Okay, Talia. We're going to have to be very quiet. We don't want the mean lady to follow us."

Talia nodded, and they carefully made their way out the back. The alley behind Stiles' office wasn't exactly the greatest place, but at least it was empty when they got there. Stiles had already come up with a plan. He was going to get himself and Talia to the doughnut place a few blocks away. Then he was going to call Danny. If he couldn't get a hold of the FBI agent, Stiles was going to start calling the other law enforcement he knew it the city. He also figured that they should be safe enough in a public place. Even Kate wouldn't try to hurt a child in front of witnesses.

It took a little bit of doing to get there without running into anyone. Stiles was jumpy and kept starting at shadows. But they made it to the doughnut shop without incident. Stiles got Talia settled with a doughnut and some hot chocolate before he turned his attention to her backpack. Inside there was a note addressed to him. Stiles started reading it even as he was dialing Danny.

_Stiles,_

_Do not allow Kate to take Talia anywhere. If you haven't heard from me in twenty-four hours, I need you to get Talia to the McCall pack. Talia's passport is in the backpack as well as legal documents that give you permission to take her out of the state and have her stay with the McCall pack. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but you're my best chance of getting her some place safe. Thank you again for all that you have done for us._

_Sincerely,_

_Derek Hale_

Stiles did not like the sound of that. Unfortunately, he was just getting Danny's voicemail, both on his work number and his cell number. So now he just had to figure out who else to get involved. Besides Danny, he knew a handful of other law enforcement officials in the city, most of whom had some connection to his dad. He wasn't sure who would be the best help in this case since most of them were not aware of the supernatural, and the whole situation was odd even with that information.

He'd finally decided who to call when Talia climbed back into his lap, shaking.

"Stiles, the mean lady is here."

Stiles sent off one last S.O.S. text to Danny. He perched Talia on his hip, so there was no way that Kate could just snatch her up got to his feet. He managed that just before Kate strode into the shop.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite wedding planner and my favorite little girl. I've been looking for you two. Derek wanted me to take Talia to her dance lesson today."

Stiles arched an eyebrow at that. "See, we have a problem there. I have direct instructions from Derek not to let Talia go anywhere with you. And given that you are not Talia's parent and you don't have any sort of custody of her, I'm not about to hand her over to you."

Kate's smile grew sharper. "Now, sweetie, you might want to think before you make any rash decisions. You never know who could get hurt."

Stiles glared back at her. "You do know that I'm a sheriff's kid, right? You're not the first person to try and intimidate me. And I take attempted kidnapping very seriously."

Her eyes narrowed. "I hope you can live with the consequences. I'll be taking Talia now."

"No."

It wasn't false bravado. Not when he could see a black and white pulling up in front of the shop. The lights were on, but there were no sirens. He was about to have armed backup, and that made him feel a lot more confident. So Stiles squared his shoulders and faced Kate down with very little fear. She wasn't going to shoot him in the middle of a shop, and even if she did, the police would have her dealt with before she could manage much else. Stiles didn't want to get shot, and he really didn't think it was all that likely, but his brain liked to bring up all of the possibilities during stressful situations.

"I wasn't giving you an choice."

"Kate Argent?" a police officer asked.

Kate turned to face the man. After that, the next few minutes blurred together. Kate tried to resist arrest. In the end, it took three officers and a Taser to take her down. Of course, once that had happened, there was the paperwork. Stiles had to give a witness statement, and by the time that he had finished with that, the FBI had arrived. Danny was looking harried when he arrived, but he let out a relieved sigh when he spotted Talia.

"Oh thank god. I know Derek said he'd sent her some place safe, but the guy wasn't exactly in the best shape at the time."

Talia growled at Danny and flashed her eyes before burying her face back in the crook of Stiles neck.

"We're both just fine." Stiles' brain caught up with the rest of Danny's sentence. "Is Derek okay?"

Danny nodded and it was clear when he spoke, he was carefully choosing his words. "He's going to be just fine. Cora's with him actually. He'll probably be healed by the time he's released. Cora's making sure that nothing too strange goes into the paperwork."

Which meant that Derek had been hurt. Derek had been hurt badly enough that people had noticed before his werewolf healing kicked in. Stiles tightened his grip on Talia a little.

"Please tell me that Kate won't be a problem anytime soon."

Danny smirked. "Kate Argent isn't going to be anywhere except for a jail cell for a long time. You were right about most of your guesses. And she happened to have kept a record of all of her hunting activities. Even if she's only prosecuted for a quarter of the crimes she's responsible for, she's not going to leave prison before she dies."

Stiles smiled. "Good."

That turned out to be the easiest part of the afternoon. He and Talia ended up spending most of the rest of the afternoon hanging around FBI headquarters waiting for Derek to be able to go home. Stiles did hear from Danny that Derek had healed up which was good, but by the time Derek came to collect them, Talia was incredibly fussy. He was pretty sure it was a combination of stress and the lack of a nap, but he really wasn't sure what to do about it. She didn't want to leave his lap and kept clinging to him, but at the same time it was very clear she was unhappy and near tears. Stiles rather felt like crying himself.

The moment Derek walked through the door, Talia was off like a shot.

"Papa!"

Derek scooped her up and held her close. His nose was buried in Talia's hair, and while Stiles couldn't hear what he was saying, it was clear Derek was murmuring something to her. It would probably be a good time for Stiles to make his exit. However, when Stiles tried to slip past them, he found himself wrapped up in a one armed hug with Derek scenting him just as much as he was scenting Talia. Stiles hadn't been expecting that, but he did know how to deal with an upset werewolf who was feeling a little possessive. So he let Derek hold him and scent him for as long as he wanted. When Derek finally pulled away, the tips of his ears were red.

"Sorry."

Stiles smiled gently. "Not a problem. Are you okay?"

Derek nodded. "Yes. Thank you for taking care of Talia. If Kate had gotten a hold of her…"

"You don't have to thank me for that. I wouldn't want Kate Argent near any child. Do you get to go home now?"

Derek nodded. "Yes. It's such a relief that it's all over now."

Talia made a grumpy noise, and Derek sighed.

"I should probably get her home. I'll need to talk to you later about canceling the wedding plans, but-"

"You've got plenty on your plate for now." Stiles offered him a grin. "Just call me when you're ready, and we'll get things sorted out."

By the time that Stiles got home, it was late. But he still had some calls to make. He didn't want Allison finding out about Kate from the news. The two of them might not be close any more, but Stiles didn't want her to be blindsided by what had happened. Thankfully, it was earlier in the day in California, and getting a hold of Scott and Allison proved to be easy enough. Telling her was harder.

"Ally, I have some bad news."

Her eyes went wide, and she clutched at Scott's hand. Stiles wished he could do this in person instead of via Skype.

"Did something happen to Isaac? Danny?"

He took a breath. "No. It's Kate. She was arrested today. I don't know everything she's being charged with or all of the details, but she's looking at life in prison."

Allison's face fell, but her reaction wasn't as bad as he had expected. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Not that I know of. I don't know if the case is going to make the news or not, but I wanted you to hear it from me rather than be surprised by it."

They chatted a little while longer. And with that last thing taken care of Stiles fell into bed, completely exhausted.

Which explained why he slept until about noon. Stiles rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Coffee was definitely necessary. Then he made the mistake of turning on the TV. It must have been a slow news day because the story was everywhere. Stiles had figured it might make a small blip on the radar since Kate had resisted arrest, but he hadn't imagined that it would become the major news story of the day.

However, it was good to get a bigger picture of just what had been going on. While there was just bare mention of her other crimes, there was quite a bit on what she had planned for Rosenhale. At least the mundane side of it. Kate had gotten herself hired in the accounting department and had proceeded to transfer most of the company's wealth and assets to a bank account of her own in the Caymans. She had used that leverage to blackmail Derek into agreeing to marry her. As far as the public was concerned, she had been planning on extorting Derek for all he was worth before probably murdering him. There was some implication that she might have been involved with the deaths of the previous owners of Rosenhale, but the news didn't have anything concrete on that.

Stiles just shook his head at it all. He hoped that Derek was bearing up all right under all of the attention. The alpha werewolf wasn't exactly the best with people at times. At least people he didn't know. And being the focus of concentrated media attention was something most werewolves tried to avoid. Derek was probably going to get some heat about this from the other alphas in New York. It was really their own fault though in Stiles' mind. They should have looked into the situation immediately when Kate Argent appeared on the scene. It wasn't as if she didn't have a reputation in the supernatural community.

He spent most of the afternoon catching up on chores and on Skype with his dad. Since Derek was originally from Beacon Hills the local news affiliate had picked up the story. His dad had wanted what details that Stiles could give both on the law enforcement side and on the supernatural side of the story. He was trying to figure out what to make for dinner when his cell phone went off.

"Hey, this is Stiles."

"Stiles, it's Derek. I'm sorry to ask but I need another favor."

"Sure. What can I do for you?"

Derek paused. "Can Talia and I come over to your place? Just for a little while. The press found out where I live, and they're camped out outside, and I can't block them out any more. The townhouse doesn't have good sound proofing, so I can hear everything they say. I should be able to slip us out unnoticed, but-"

Stiles cut him off. "Derek, it's not a problem. I'll text you my address. Text me when you get here, and I'll meet you at the door."

"Thank you."

Stiles spent the next twenty minutes frantically neatening up his apartment. He didn't think that there were any major health hazards for children, so he should be safe on that front. Half an hour later, Stiles got a text from Derek and rushed downstairs to let the man into his apartment building. Derek looked more than a little harried. His hair was sticking up in every direction like he'd been constantly running his fingers through it. He was a little jumpy too, but that was understandable given the current circumstances. Talia just smiled at Stiles and gave him a wave before resting her head back on Derek's shoulder.

"Come on in," Stiles told them. "It's not the swankiest place, but it's home."

Derek settled Talia on the couch. She almost immediately fell asleep. Derek let out a soft sigh. Then Stiles and Derek retreated into the kitchen. Derek was as close to looking pathetic as Stiles had ever seen him.

"How are you doing?"

Derek groaned. "I'm not sure. I'm so glad that Kate is behind bars, and that she's staying there. It's been a nightmare the last six months since she came back into my life. Except now we have all of this attention on us. The media won't leave me alone, and the other Alphas are upset with me, but it's not like they've done anything to help me with this whole situation. And even if Kate is gone her presence is still everywhere. She's been inside my home, Stiles, and I just don't feel safe there any more, but it's my home and-"

Stiles recognized the signs of a panic attack when he saw one. And he wasn't entirely sure that Derek wanted to be sharing this much with him. It was like the man couldn't stop talking.

"Der. It's okay. Breathe." Stiles ran a hand up and down his back, trying to comfort him. "You mentioned that you were rebuilding the house back in Beacon Hills. Is it done?"

Derek nodded.

Stiles smiled. "Okay. Here's what you're going to do. We're going to call a moving company to come and pack up your townhouse and move your stuff to Beacon Hills. Then you and Talia are going to fly to Beacon Hills and settle into your new home where you'll be across the country from Kate and in a place where she hasn't touched at all. Do you still know anyone in Beacon Hills?"

Derek shook his head. "No. We didn't stay in contact with anyone."

"Okay." Stiles smiled. "My dad can pick you up. I'm going to let Scott know you're coming so he's not surprised by the new werewolf in town and so he can help you get settled in."

"You don't have to-" Derek started.

"I want to," Stiles cut him off with a smile. "Let someone else take care of you for a change."

He got Derek and Talia settled on the couch watching The Princess Bride then went into the kitchen to fix them dinner. He settled on making mac and cheese because it was easy to do, and he could make a big batch which would probably feed them all. Besides, it was also warm and comforting. And Derek and Talia could use that right now.

It was unexpectedly cozy sharing a meal with the two of them. It was a little crowded as well since Stiles apartment really wasn't meant for more than two people, but the three of them managed to fit around Stiles' little kitchen table. It was also surprisingly natural. It might be a slightly tight squeeze in his kitchen, but the meal itself went swimmingly and Stiles actually had a good time. Derek and Talia seemed much more relaxed as well. The three of them headed back to the living room afterwards with bowls of ice cream.

It was getting late, but Derek seemed to want to linger. Talia had already fallen asleep in Stiles' lap while they watched another movie.

"Do you guys want to just crash here tonight?" he asked.

Derek's eyes lit up. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Not as long as you guys don't. The couch pulls out, so there's a place for you to sleep."

"Thank you. I'm not sure I would get any rest with the pack of reporters on my doorstep."

"It's not a problem, Derek."

However, Stiles wasn't expecting to wake up the next morning and walk into the kitchen to find Derek and Talia making French Toast. His heart clenched a little at the sight, and Stiles was struck by the fact that he wanted to wake up to this on a regular basis. Talia spotted him and smiled.

"Stiles! Papa is making breakfast. Do you want sugar or syrup on yours?"

"Coffee?"

"You can't put coffee on French toast, silly."

A steaming cup of coffee was waved under his nose, and Stiles eagerly snatched it. Derek just chuckled.

"Let's let Stiles have his coffee before he has to make any decisions." Derek smiled at Stiles. "I hope you don't mind us taking over the kitchen. I figured breakfast was the least I could do to say thank you for last night."

It was clear that Derek had dealt with other people who weren't morning people besides Stiles. Stiles finally did perk up after his second cup of coffee. Breakfast was fantastic. Derek's French toast was cooked perfectly and the bacon was nice and crispy. Stiles spent the rest of the morning keeping Talia entertained while Derek made arrangements for the move. It seemed like he took Stiles' suggestion from last night seriously. There was definitely an air of relief around the man as he spoke on the phone. Finally, Derek collapsed onto the couch next to Stiles.

"You okay?"

Derek nodded. "Yes. I'll just be glad to get out of New York. It's never really suited me the way it did Laura. I mostly stayed because of the situation with Kate and Rosenhale. Now that that's taken care of, I can step back and just be a silent partner. That will let me focus on Talia."

"Dude, it's not like you've been neglecting her. I can't imagine how you've managed to juggle everything you've been dealing with. And take it from some one who knows what's it's like to have a single parent, you've been doing fine."

Derek shrugged. "I just feel like I don't know what I'm doing."

"According to my dad, most parents don't."

Stiles had to admit that his apartment suddenly felt rather empty when Talia and Derek finally left. Derek had promised to contact Stiles with details when he knew about his travel plans. But Derek was determined to get himself and Talia out of New York as quickly as possible. Which meant that Stiles needed to lay some groundwork in Beacon Hills so Derek had some support when he got there.

His dad was his first call.

"So, do you think you could pick some one up from the airport for me? I know it's last minute, and I don't have the flight details yet, but Derek doesn't really know anyone in Beacon Hills anymore, and I don't want him and Talia to have to worry the transportation. I have a feeling that the trip across country is going to be stressful enough with a four year old."

"Stiles," his dad's voice is both fond and exasperated, "is there something you need to tell me about your relationship with Derek?"

"What? No, Dad, we're just friends. It's just he's been completely overwhelmed with things lately. He had a panic attack in my kitchen last night thanks to all of the reporters camped out in front of his place. He and Talia are moving back to Beacon Hills, and I just want to make the transition easier on him. I was going to give Scott a heads up too since there will be another alpha in town, and he and Derek are going to have to figure out how to share territory. I don't think it will be a problem, but I figured it was best if everyone was in the loop."

His dad laughed. "All right. Send me the flight details when you have them. I have to say I am looking forward to getting a chance to meet this guy. You haven't been this hung up on someone since Lydia."

"Dad!"

"Don't worry about it, son. Talk to you soon."

That left Scott to talk to. It took Stiles a little longer to get a hold of Scott, but when he did, he was pretty sympathetic to Derek's plight.

"I'm not sure I want to introduce him to Chris and Allison right off the bat, but I bet Boyd and Erica would do a good job of getting him settled in Beacon Hills." Scott frowned. "Do you think he'll have a problem with Chris and Ally being around?"

Stiles shrugged. "I don't think so. We probably need to make it clear about their new code, and we probably shouldn't force them to interact unless both parties are comfortable with it, but nothing Derek has said indicates he's looking for trouble. I'm pretty sure all he really wants is to raise his daughter in peace."

"Good." Scott grinned at him. "We'll make sure he's taken care of for you. I'd better go. If Ally gets home before we get off Skype, she's going to kick me out, so you two can talk about her dress. And I seem to remember you were sick of wedding dresses."

"God, yes. I'll talk to you later, Scott, and I'll send the details about when Derek will be arriving once I have them."

With that taken care, Stiles turned his attention to dismantling Kate's wedding plans. Most of it would be very easy to take care. There would be a cancellation fee for most reservations that had already been made, but the initial deposits should cover those. The biggest issue was the fact that Derek was going to need to send out a second set of announcements to let everyone who had been invited to the wedding that the wedding had now been canceled. Thankfully, it wouldn't take Stiles long to whip something together for that either. He had the feeling that Derek wouldn't want anything too grand for the cancelation announcements, just simple and too the point.

He didn't see much of Derek after that. They met once at Stiles' office to go over cancelation information and Derek's travel plans. He and Talia would be flying out on Thursday.

"Is there anything else you can think of that needs to be done about the wedding?" Derek asked him.

Stiles shook his head. "I think we're all set. I'm sorry you won't get all of your money back, but at least you'll get some of it back. Are you guys all set for your flight?"

Derek nodded. "I think so. I'm a little worried about it since Talia's never been on an airplane before, but other than that I think we're good to go."

"My dad's going to pick you up at the airport and drive you back to Beacon Hills," Stiles told him, "and Scott's got a couple of members of his pack who are going to help you get settled in and get to know the town again when you're ready."

"I can't thank you enough for this, Stiles."

Stiles just smiled. "It's really not a big deal. How are things going with Cora?"

Derek shrugged. "It's strange. Good, but strange. The last time I saw her she was ten years old. Now she's all grown up and has a career and a life of her own. We're both having to get to know one another all over again. She's going to take a vacation later in the year and come visit."

"I'm glad you two found one another."

"You're mostly responsible for that as well."

Stiles didn't really know what to say to that. "I just stuck my nose into things that really weren't my business."

That made Derek chuckled. "Well, I can't complain about the results."

When Thursday rolled around, Stiles found himself going to the airport with Talia and Derek. It was mostly because Derek needed an extra hand and Cora couldn't get off of work. Talia was close to bouncing off of the walls. Stiles had never seen the little girl like this before, but Derek's expression said he was all too familiar with the mood. And it seemed like Talia wasn't all that pleased about the fact that Stiles wasn't coming with them.

"Why can't Stiles come with us? I like Stiles."

He smiled gently at the little girl. "I have to stay here for a while, sweetheart. But I promise I'll come see you when I visit Beacon Hills. And you can call me whenever you want okay?"

Talia didn't look any happier. "I want you to come with us now. Or we can just stay here. We don't have to leave."

"But you'll like Beacon Hills," Stiles told her. "There's lots of fun stuff there, and my dad is coming to the airport just to pick you up. I bet you'll be so busy that you won't even notice that I'm not there."

She sighed. "Fine."

Derek just looked relieved that a tantrum had been avoided. "Give Stiles a hug, and then we have to go through security, Talia."

Stiles wasn't too surprised by the tight hug he got from the four year old. He was more startled by the hug that Derek gave him. The other man smiled at Stiles.

"Thank you again for everything that you've done for us. I'm looking forward to seeing you when you're back in Beacon Hills."

Stiles watched as they disappeared through security. Then he headed back to his apartment. He had a feeling it was going to be a long couple of months until August.


	6. Chapter 6

"I dropped them off at their house a half hour ago, Stiles. I have to say, Derek's done a good job with the place. It looks completely different than the old Hale house, but it's a gorgeous building. Talia definitely is a sweetheart. She probably talked about you for about ten minutes and how wonderful you are."

Stiles wasn't sure what to make of that. "So everything went well?"

"Yes, son. Derek mentioned several times how thankful he was for what you've done for him. He seems like a good man, and it's clear that his daughter adores him." His dad's tone turned sly. "Are you sure there's nothing going on there?"

Stiles just sighed. "There's nothing happening. I may have a crush, but I'll get over it."

His dad snorted. "I'm not sure you have to worry about that. By the way, Talia wants to know when you're coming to visit her."

Stiles just shook his head. "I'm pretty sure she'll start making friends in Beacon Hills an forget all about me. I think both Talia and Derek have been pretty lonely."

"I don't disagree, but I think you might be underestimating the impression you left on both that little girl and her father."

Stiles does his best to settle back into his pre-Hale routine. Well, not entirely. It seemed that Cora Hale had decided that since her brother was across the country, Stiles was the next best thing. He'd gone into the office one afternoon to find Cora waiting for him.

"So, Stilinski, Danny says you're a good guy, and it's clear that you care about my brother enough to get involved with bringing down Kate Argent." Her smile was almost predatory. "I'm going to take you out to lunch and pick your brain about the whole situation."

Stiles blinked. "You're kind of scary, you know that?"

Cora laughed. "FBI agents are trained in that you know."

As it turns out, Cora is pretty awesome herself. She's got a great sense of humor that's sharp and cynical. Stiles sees a lot of similarities between her and Derek, though Cora comes off as harder and more aggressive than her brother. But Stiles likes her, and it's good to make another friend in city now that Erica and Boyd are gone. With Derek and Talia's departure as well, he'd really been down to just Isaac and Danny. Sure, Stiles had a bunch of acquaintances, but they were really the sort of person that Stiles could call up for a video game marathon or going out for a game of paintball.

It's another reason why Stiles has been considering moving back to California. Most of his support system was back there anyway, and he knew he was missing out on things. Especially now that Scott and Allison were getting married. Stiles didn't want to miss out on being there to be Uncle Stiles when they started having kids. He really hadn't expected to be living across county from his best friend and the rest of his family. And it wasn't like his business wasn't movable.

It was something that kept coming up. Stiles had been surprised to see an unfamiliar user name calling him on Skype, but as soon as he'd accepted the call, Talia's face appeared on the screen.

"Stiles!" Talia beamed at him. "You haven't come to visit me yet."

He blinked. "Hi, Talia."

Derek's face appeared beside hers. "Stiles isn't visiting until August. I know that I've told you that before."

Talia pouted. "But I want Stiles to visit now."

He could see a temper tantrum coming on. "What's your new house like, Talia?"

That sent her off on a long description of her new bedroom. Stiles listened attentively as she described what she thought were the important parts of the house such as the kitchen and the living room.

"…and I got to meet your papa, and he let me make the sirens go on his car. You papa is almost as cool as mine."

That made Stiles laugh. "I'm glad you like him. Are you having fun in Beacon Hills?"

Talia shrugged. "It's okay. You should come visit."

"I will. I promise," Stiles told her. "I just have to take care of some things in New York first. Can I talk to your dad for a bit?"

Talia shrugged again but disappeared from view. Derek just shook his head and smiled. "Sorry about that. It seems she got pretty attached to you."

"Not a big deal. How are you doing?"

It was Derek's turn to shrug. "I'm fine. It's been a little strange being back in Beacon Hills. A lot has changed since we left. Erica and Boyd have been great, and Scott seems nice enough. Talia took to your dad about as quickly as she took to you, and he doesn't seem to mind."

Stiles grinned. "Of course not, he's always had a soft spot for kids. Besides, it's the closest he's going to come to having a grandchild for a while with my love life being what it is."

"Chris Argent wants to meet with me," Derek said. He sounded a little uncertain about that.

Stiles sighed. "He probably wants to apologize for Kate's actions. And he might want to go over the treaty Scott set up with the hunters with you. You probably already know all of the details from Scott, but Chris likes to be through. And we've had enough problems with miscommunication over the years that he likes to make sure everyone knows the ground rules."

Derek made a face. "I know it's important. I'm just not entirely comfortable meeting with an Argent, even if it is one who has never harmed me before. But if I'm going to live here, I need to figure out how to deal with that they live here too."

Stiles could understand that. He had years of knowing Chris and Allison. And to be honest, there had been times when Stiles had worried about them hurting Scott or the other wolves in their pack. It wasn't a worry that he had now, but he could see where Derek was coming from. He was pretty sure that given time Allison and Chris would win him over. Chris was a fair man, and Allison was incredibly charming. But it would probably take time before Derek got to that point.

"If you're really nervous about it, take my dad with you," Stiles suggested. "It probably wouldn't hurt to have a third party there anyway, and Dad has experience being a mediator between hunters and werewolves."

"I don't want to impose."

Stiles snorted. "Making sure that you get settled into Beacon Hills with a minimum of bloodshed and misunderstanding is not an imposition. Look, what some of the Argents have done to you and your family in the past is unconscionable. Chris knows that. You don't have to be his best friend. Just go to the meeting and hear the man out."

Derek nodded. "I know. I just don't deal with change well."

"It sounds like you're doing just fine."

There was a nose off screen, and Derek let out a deep sigh. "I think we're going to have to end the call. It sounds like someone is getting into mischief. Do you mind if we call you again sometime? Talia really does miss you."

"Sure. I'm online a lot, so feel free to call me if you see my online."

He and Derek said their goodbyes, and Derek signed off. Stiles let out a deep sigh. He wished he was back in Beacon Hills. It kind of sucked to hear about everything second hand, and he wanted to be able to help make things easier. He wanted Derek and Talia to get along with Scott and the rest of his friends, and he worried about how things were going without him there. Still, the best he could do right now was give advice.

Stiles tried to throw himself into his work to keep himself distracted. Normally, that worked pretty well. Unfortunately for Stiles, he was currently at the point with both Scott and Allison's wedding and Rachel and Jacob's wedding that there really wasn't that much work to do. Which was typically great when he wanted to hang out with his friends. Not so much when he was looking for distractions. So instead, Stiles threw himself into whatever projects he could find. Which meant that his apartment was probably the cleanest it had been in years, his office had been completely reorganized, and Stiles was actually getting to projects he'd put on the back burner for ages.

But beside that, Stiles found himself rather lonely. It was rare that his schedule synced up with Danny and Isaac's. Even with adding Cora to his roster of friends, Stiles was alone more often than not. For the first time in years, Stiles was seriously homesick. It didn't take Stiles more than a month to make up his mind. Of course, it did help that Oliver and Felicity had been trying to get him to plan their wedding for months. He'd been on the fence about it because he was based in New York, but if he moved back home, it would be very doable. And it would be a very good job to get his business established on the West Coast. He wouldn't actually be able to move until November after Rachel and Jacob's wedding was over with, but at least he could start making plans for the move.

His dad was thrilled at the news, and so was Scott. Plus, it gave Stiles something to focus on. He also contacted Oliver and Felicity to let them know he was able to plan their wedding after all, which gave him something else to focus on. However, even with that, Stiles found that there were moments when he'd see something and think that Talia would really enjoy visiting that or find himself wanting to discuss something about a book or a movie with Derek. Talia and Derek did seem to Skype him almost every week, and Stiles looked forward to those calls more and more.

It seemed to take forever for August to roll around. Stiles couldn't wait to get back to Beacon Hills even if it meant ten hours stuck on a plane. He was ready to go bright and early the morning of his flight. By the time the plane finally touched down in Oakland though, Stiles was a little less cheerful. He was going to glad to get off of the plane and on the road home.

What Stiles didn't expect was to be knocked off of his feet the moment he stepped into the baggage claim area. However, the moment he looked down at his legs, he recognized his assailant.

"Talia?"

"You're here!" She hugged his legs again. "Papa said you were going to be here, but I couldn't smell you at first."

He looked up from her to find Derek watching the two of them with a smile.

"Your dad had to take a shift at the last minute," he offered. "I said we'd come and pick you up."

Stiles smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

Derek just shrugged. "I didn't mind. How many bags to you have?"

"Just two."

It doesn't take long for them to collect all of Stiles luggage and get it out to Derek's car. Stiles took in the sleek black Camaro Derek loads the bags into a whistle.

"Okay, I wasn't expecting this."

Derek's lips curved up in a little smile. "I should probably trade it in for something with a better safety rating, but it used to be Laura's."

"I can understand that. I still have my mom's jeep."

Talia, for all of her excitement earlier, was asleep before they had even left the city. Which left Stiles without that particular buffer between himself and Derek. He wasn't entirely sure how to act. And he was a little afraid of embarrassing himself or making things too awkward. Derek was still incredibly attractive to him, probably more so than when they first met. And he was no longer Stiles' client or engaged. But he had just gotten out of what had been a very bad relationship, and Stiles had no clue if he was interested in something new right now. The fact that Stiles lived across country and wouldn't be moving home sometime this winter didn't help either.

This of course led to rambling on Stiles part, and before he really knew it he was going on about the use of pagan traditions in Christian weddings. Stiles knew he was rambling, but he couldn't seem to stop. It was almost a relief when Derek interrupted him.

"Do you want to stop and get something to eat? We've got another two hours of driving and there aren't a lot of places to stop much further from here."

Stiles' rumbling stomach answered that question. "Yes, please."

They swung into the drive thru lane of a little burger joint. Derek ordered a burger for himself and onion rings as well as a child's chocolate milkshake. Stiles got a burger for himself as well as an order of curly fries and his own milkshake. The curly fries were quite good, and having his mouth full kept Stiles from making more of a fool of himself. He does manage to let Derek know that him talking is not a requirement.

"Dude, tell me to shut up if I start annoying you. I have the habit of rambling if not stopped."

"I'll take that under consideration."

Stiles doesn't quite know what to the slightly awkward silence that descends after that. It feels like everything between them has changed, but Stiles knows that it hasn't not really. They're pretty much the same as when Derek left New York City except for a few minor things like Derek was no longer being hounded by the press and was no longer dealing with an extremely volatile situation. Somehow Derek gets him talking about favorite movies and things seemed to relax some in the car.

He was almost sad they reached his dad's house. Stiles wasn't really ready to say goodbye to Derek, but at the same time, he was really ready to call it a day. Traveling always took more out of him than he expected.

"Thanks again for the ride," Stiles smiled. "I'll see you around? I'm home for the whole month."

Derek smiled back. "You're welcome. Talia will be glad to hear that. Don't be surprised if she insists you join us for some sort of outing."

"I'll look forward to it."

He waved goodbye and headed on inside. Stiles still had a key, and once inside his childhood home, he let out a soft sigh. His dad probably wouldn't be home until morning or very late tonight, so Stiles settled into his old room. He'd catch up with his dad in the morning.

It was easy to slip into the familiar routines of home. Stiles woke the next morning to the smell of breakfast wafting up from the kitchen. He found his dad in the middle of making pancakes.

"Morning, son."

Stiles smiled blearily. "Morning. Coffee?"

"In the pot. How was your flight?"

"Too long."

It was remarkably like so many mornings when he'd been a teenager. Well, okay, they hadn't often had a chance to eat breakfast together, but they had tried to as often as possible. Especially after his had had been let in on the secret of the supernatural. The two of them chatted about his dad's work and the new deputies before the subject was changed to Scott and Allison's wedding.

"So, what do you and Scott have planned for the next few weeks? Am I going to get to spend any time with you?"

Stiles grinned at his dad. "Oh probably. Things won't start to get really crazy until about a week before the wedding. I've got a couple of things to take care of before then, but I should have plenty of time to spend with my old man."

"Good. It's nice to have you home, son."

They've barely finished breakfast when Scott shows up on the doorstep. Stiles found himself engulfed in a bear hug.

"Good to see you too, man. Now let go so I can breathe."

Scott laughed and let go of him. "I'm glad you're home."

The two of them settled on the couch for some catching up.

"Anything major I need to know about?"

Scott shook his head. "Everything has been pretty calm. The biggest news has been Derek Hale moving back to Beacon Hills after all these years. Boyd's got his shop up and running, and Erica has already won over the town with her cooking despite only being in operation about a month and a half. Ally says her dress is all ready, and everybody should be trickling in for the wedding over the next few weeks."

"Good. We could use a little less drama with this wedding of yours. What about you? Do you have any wedding tasks left to get done?"

Scott shook his head. "My tux is taken care of thanks to Lydia. You could look over my vows though. I think they're done."

"Well, that one less thing to worry about. How's Ally doing with Kate and everything?"

Scott just sighed. "She's not happy about it, but she'd already been disillusion with Kate for years. It's been a bit of a struggle especially as new information comes out. Neither she nor Chris had any idea of just how indiscriminant or prolific Kate had been with her hunting. And they hadn't known how she'd gone about doing it either. Derek's been really good about giving them space, and he told them both that he doesn't blame them for Kate's actions. I don't think the three of them are going to be close friends anytime soon, but at least I know that there isn't going to be any fighting between them."

Stiles bit his lip and decided to change the subject. "So no new supernatural shenanigans?"

"Nope. I don't think that we can call Derek a shenanigan after all. I was a little surprised about how easy it's been to have another alpha around, but then I don't think that Derek's like most of the other alphas we've met. Erica and Boyd both like him."

"What do you think of him?"

Scott shrugged. "He seems like an okay guy. I don't really know him that well. He mostly seems to keep to himself. His daughter is adorable though even if she is really shy."

"Talia is a sweetheart," Stiles agreed. "She's not so shy once she gets to know someone. Derek's a little shy too. It took him a while to warm up to me. So, what do you want to do for your bachelor party?"

Scott just groaned in response.

It didn't take long for Stiles to slip into comfortable routine. He spent most days hanging out with friends and checking on little last minute things for the wedding. It was fun to see what had changed since the last time he'd been home. He hung out at both Boyd's shop and Erica's kitchen, getting to play taste tester for Erica's excellent cooking. He bugged Scott at work. He took Derek and Talia to his favorite playgrounds from when he was a kid and his still favorite restaurants around town.

The week before the wedding was when things got serious. Stiles found himself completely immersed on getting things ready. It wasn't the first time that he'd both been in charge of planning a wedding and was also attending one as a guest, but he'd never been the best man before. And Stiles couldn't say he wasn't having fun. There had been the low key bachelor's party where they guys had all gone out for a game of paintball followed by pizza and beer at Stiles' home. The rehearsal dinner was a blast. There were a few blips, but thankfully nothing overly dramatic like Scott's father suddenly appearing and wanting to be a part of things. That hadn't been a big concern of Stiles', but it had always been a minor possibility that would provide far more drama than it was worth.

It was beautiful summer day that dawned the morning of the wedding. It was clear and slightly cool with a bright blue sky. All good signs to Stiles' way of thinking. And he would take any good signs he could get, especially since he has to get up at six in the morning for this thing. But after several cups of coffee, Stiles was feeling ready to face the day. Which was good because he had a lot to get done.

Thankfully, Stiles could count on Melissa to make sure that Scott got up on time, ate, and started getting ready. That left Stiles free to deal with other things like making sure everything at the venues were set up and the vendors were checking in on time. There was a minor miscommunication with the photographer, but that was cleared up quickly enough that Stiles wasn't even late to lunch with Scott and the rest of the groomsmen. Then it was time to get suited up.

Stiles had to leave Scott in Danny, Isaac, and Jackson's hands while he briefly check in with Boyd and got the boutonnieres from him. He returned to their prep area to find Scott working himself into a panic.

"What is she's changed her mind? I know Ally gets a lot of flak from other hunter families about our relationship. Or maybe she's realized what a loser I am and finally decided to move on to someone better or-:

Stiles bit back a grin.

"Scott, breathe. Allison isn't going to change her mind. But she isn't going to be happy if you hyperventilate before the ceremony." He adjusted his best friend's tie. "Now, in five minutes, you're going to marry the love of your life. So, take a deep breath and calm down. We've only got a few minutes before we need to get into our places."

Despite Scott's mini freak out, everything went perfectly. The moment Allison appeared at the other end of the aisle, Scott seemed to relax. Both the ceremony and the reception went off without a hitch, and Stiles spent the evening celebrating with his friends. There was dancing and laughter and generally just a good time. Scott and Allison looked every inch like the fairytale couple that they were, and everyone could see just how much they were in love with another.

At the end of the evening, Stiles packed Scott and Allison off into the car hired to take them to their hotel for the night before they headed to the airport for the next day. Allison hugged and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you so much, Stiles. This was everything I wanted."

"You're welcome, Ally."

Scott gave him a long hug. "You'll be home for Thanksgiving?"

"Of course. Have a blast in France guys."

Once the happy couple was on their way, Stiles had a few more tasks to get done, but they were easy enough like making sure the band got paid and that the wedding presents got taken back to Melissa's house. Stiles finally found his own bed at about two in th morning. So maybe it wasn't entirely surprising that he didn't get up until after noon the next day. When Stiles did get up, he was alone in the house; his dad was already off at work. So Stiles put some music on and started puttering around the kitchen. It was clear that they needed to go grocery shopping some time soon.

Still, he had the fixings for a Japanese curry, and that would be easy to store and keep warm if his dad was late getting home. So he pulled the veggies out of the fridge and got to work chopping. He working on the carrots when someone knocked on the door.

"Just a minute," Stiles called, putting down the knife.

He found Derek on the front porch.

"Hey you. What's up?"

"Would you like to go to the movies sometime?"

"Sure. I don't know what kids' movies are currently playing, but I'm sure there's something-"

"No," Derek interrupted him, "I meant just the two of us. Erica offered to babysit Talia if I wanted an evening to myself sometime."

Stiles blinked at him. "You mean like a date?"

"If you want."

"I'd like that," Stiles smiled at him gently. "Any movie preferences?"

Derek just shrugged. "Anything that's for adults instead of children. I'm not that picky."

"It's a date then. When is good for you?"

"Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Perfect."

Stiles was unaccountably nervous before hand. His dad watched with quite a bit of amusement as Stiles paced as he waited for Derek to arrive. This wasn't the first time Stiles had gone out on a date. It wasn't even his first date with a guy. It was Stiles' first date in a while, that was true, and Stiles had never really dated anyone who he'd been this attached to before hand.

"Calm down, son. You're going to wear yourself out before Derek even gets here."

The doorbell rang making Stiles run a hand through his hair. Taking a deep breath, he opened the front door with a smile. Derek stood on the front porch, his hands shoved in his pockets. He wore a leather jacket over his usual henley, and he looked about as nervous as Stiles felt.

"Hey."

"Hi." Stiles chuckled nervously. "Ready to go?"

Derek nodded, and the two of them headed for the Camaro parked in front of the house. The car ride was filled with an awkward silence up until the point where Blurred Lines came on the radio.

"Can I change the station? I hate things song, and if I listen to it too much I know it's going to get stuck in my head."

"Go ahead. Just no death metal."

That got them started on a conversation about music which erased most of the awkwardness and lasted the pair until they arrived at the movie theater. Unfortunately for them, the theater seemed to be between films that Stiles had even heard of. Derek seemed just as clueless, so they ended up picking the one which had the most interesting poster. That turned out to be a dreadful mistake.

The movie was absolutely terrible. It was painfully bad. Stiles snuck a glance over at Derek and found that he looked just as horrified as Stiles did. That at least was good. It might have been a deal breaker if Derek thought this was a good movie. Or even an okay movie. It was very clear why they were the only two people in this theater.

The character on the screen did something extremely stupid, and Stiles couldn't help himself.

"Oh for god's sake, don't be such a tit. You seem to have at least half a brain. Use it!"

"Maybe he loaned it to his brother," Derek suggested. "You know, the one that seems to have Torgo syndrome. I swear he's only had seven lines that he just repeats depending on the circumstance."

With no one else in the theater besides the two of them. It was very easy to spend the rest of the movie making fun of it. Derek's sharp, dry sense of humor was perfect for MSTing the movie, and it was much more bearable to watch that way. They both were laughing when they exited the theater which garnered strange looks from the guy in the ticket booth. Stiles would guess that wasn't the normal reaction of people leaving that particular movie. Stiles slipped his fingers between Derek's with a soft smile.

The ride back was full of discussion of bad movies and so bad they're good movies. Stiles was delighted to find that Derek held the same affection for Flash Gordon that Stiles did. Derek parked in front of his house, and for a moment the two of them sat in silence before Derek finally spoke.

"We should do this again sometime."

"Making fun of bad movies?" Stiles teased. "I agree. I have to go back to New York next week, but I'm moving back to Beacon Hills this fall. Maybe when I do, we can make this a regular thing."

"That sounds good."

He presses a soft goodnight kiss to Derek's lips before almost floating back inside the house.

Going back to New York proved even harder than expected. Even though he knew it was only temporary, Stiles was more than a little reluctant to leave. November seemed ages away. Even his weekly Skype chats with Derek and Talia didn't make things much more bearable. They mostly just made him miss Beacon Hills more. The good news was that getting everything prepped for the move was a good distraction from how slow time was passing.

Stiles had already gotten his website updated with his new info. Derek was doing a lot of the legwork for Stiles in looking for an office space. What had surprised Stiles the most was that almost as soon as he had updated his website, he was getting nibbles of interest. Within two weeks he already had three weddings lined up to plan after Felicity and Oliver's. What had surprised Stiles the most was the fact that two of the three had contacted Stiles because they wanted to incorporate supernatural traditions in with their weddings. One of the couples were a police officer and a vet from Portland who apparently had a lot of supernatural friends who would be in attendance. The other was a kitsune and a **sionnach who wanted to blend their various cultural traditions together for their wedding.**

He takes it as a sign that he's already got jobs for the next year lined up. It cements his feeling that the move is the right decision for him. By early October, he's counting down the days until he can head home. Rachel and Jacob's wedding is in about a month, and then he'll be free to go. Of course, he'll be back in Beacon Hills before the wedding for a quick visit as well. Though it's something he's had to assure Talia about several times now.

"Are you going to be home for my birthday, Stiles? Erica is going to make me a cake."

Stiles smiled at her. "I will. I'm going to be there all weekend. I wouldn't miss one of Erica's cakes."

"Good. Papa wants to talk to you."

The four year old flits off, leaving Stiles alone with Derek.

"I think I found your office for you."

"Oh?"

"I'm sending you the pictures now. It's an industrial loft downtown. Someone was going to turn it into an art gallery, but they pulled out at the last minute. It's not exactly finished, but the pack could probably fix it up pretty easily. It's probably larger than you need, but you'd definitely have space to tastings and other things that might require a little more room."

Stiles was already opening the images. He was pretty impressed. The loft was clearly on the second floor of the building and was large and airy. It did need some work, but Stiles could definitely see the charm of the place. There was even a small upstairs area that Stiles could use for a smaller office and keep all of his paperwork chaos out of sight of the clients.

"What's the price look like?"

"Cheap. The owners are a little desperate to get it rented, and they're well aware it will take some work to be usable."

Stiles nodded. "All right. Have them send me the paperwork. I definitely think this is the place."

Derek smiled. "Good."

"So how are things back home?"

Derek shrugged. "Good I think. We had our first shared pack full moon which turned out pretty well. Scott thinks it did make things easier for everyone. We mostly played board games all night after a run through the preserve. Though I think Lydia is now banned from playing Monopoly ever again."

That made Stiles laugh. "Somehow I'm not surprised. So I get in Friday morning, and I should make it to Beacon Hills in time for dinner. Did Talia's birthday present arrive?"

"It did. Your dad has it squirreled away somewhere in his house. She's going to flip when she gets it."

"I hope so."

Stiles had bought Talia a child sized chef jacket and set of child sized baking tools as well as a space in the child's cooking class Erica was starting in a couple of months.

Derek just shook his head. "Erica is one of her favorite people, and she already loves helping out in the kitchen. It was a good choice."

There was a crashing sound off screen and Derek sighed. "I'd better go. I'll see you Friday."

Talia birthday went off without a hitch. Derek had admitted to Stiles that it was really the first time Talia had a party with more than just immediate family. But most of Scott's pack had came, and Isaac and Danny sent a gift with Stiles as well. Cora had also flown out for the party. Talia's face had completely lit up when Erica presented her with a fantastic cake topped with five candles. Once the cake and ice cream had been devoured, Talia tore into her presents. Stiles' gift was a hit, but Talia's all time favorite was actually from his dad. John had gotten the little girl a pair of stuffed toy wolves, one a russet color and the other dark grey, along with a certificate about a donation in Talia's name for a wolf sancturary. Talia had squealed with delight and attacked Stiles' dad with hugs.

It was harder than ever to go back to New York. Talia had cried when Stiles had to leave. Stiles had felt a little like crying himself.

"I'll be back in a few weeks, Talia. I promise."

They were some of the longest weeks in his life. Thankfully, Rachel and Jacob's wedding kept him pretty busy. And it was a lovely wedding, but Stiles was very glad when it over with. All that was left was to get his things sent off to Beacon Hills and head home himself. Of course, that was easier said than done, and part of Stiles was a little sad to leave his apartment behind. It was the first place he'd really had to call his own, other than dorm rooms, and he had a lot of memories in New York. But he had a future in Beacon Hills.

That was driven home when he got to the baggage claim in Oakland to find his dad waiting along with Scott, Allison, Derek, Talia, Erica, Boyd, and Melissa, all with signs welcoming him home. Lydia and Jackson had even come up from Standford to welcome him home.

Stiles slowly settled into life in Beacon Hills again. It didn't take him more than a week to get his office up and running. Oddly enough, one of the easiest things to settle into was dating Derek. They're taking things slowly, and most of their dates also involved Talia, but Stiles was happier than he's ever been in any other relationship. He had a drawer at Derek's, and the three of them fixing breakfast together has gotten to be pretty common. Sometimes it's at Derek's and sometimes it's at Stiles' and his dad will join them. Talia adored John, and Stiles rather thought Derek liked having her have a grandfather figure in her life.

Derek was fixing his fantastic French toast while John helped Talia cook the sausages (a special treat for the sheriff since they had guests) when Stiles' phone rang.

"I need a favor," Scott sounded a little chagrined. "I know it's a little last minute, but I'm doing an event at the mall for the human society at the mall today, and I need an kid to help out. Lydia's cousin was going to come, but she just canceled on me. All Talia would need to do is play with some puppies and kittens for a couple of hours. Do you think she'd be willing to do it? I promise Ally and I will babysit next time you and Derek go out."

"I'll check with Derek, but I make no promises."

As it turned out, Derek was willing to give it a try. "But if Talia decides she's done for the day, then we're leaving."

So, the three of them headed to the mall after breakfast. Scott was easy to spot. He'd set up two pens with the kittens in one and the puppies in the other. Talia rushed over to see what he was doing. Stiles watched as Scott calmly explained that they were helping the puppies and kittens get adopted before Christmas and that she got to help him show people how to properly pet and play with animals. Scott was great with kids, and Stiles wouldn't be surprised if he and Allison started a family soon.

Talia seemed perfectly happy to be Scott's demonstration human and play with the puppies and kittens. Stiles had no doubt that her presence was definitely going to help get a number of the creatures adopted. They were just too adorable together.

He turned to Derek. "So, how do you feel about coming with me to San Francisco for a client appointment next week? The appointment will only take an hour or so, and then the three of us could go do some tourist things like visiting the teddy bear factory and ride cable cars."

Derek smiled. "Sounds good to me. I haven't been to San Fran is ages."

Stiles twined his fingers with Derek's. "Come on. Let's go get some coffee before you daughter convinces me that I really do need a kitten."

They ended up at the little bookstore and café that had comfy furniture. Stiles was quite happy to curl up on a couch with Derek and a large coffee and pastries.

"I can't believe you'd choose Tony Stark over Bruce Wayne."

Derek shrugged. "I don't dislike Batman exactly. It's just that he's kind of boring sometimes. Tony is a more interesting character."

"But he's Batman. Batman is cooler than Iron Man."

"You're wrong." Derek nuzzled his nose against Stiles'. "The Marvel movies prove me right."

Stiles laughed as Derek wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and they continued with their debate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos on this story.

**Author's Note:**

> For more Teen Wolf drabbles and ficlets, check out my tumblr: http://asourwolfandaspark.tumblr.com/


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